Room to let – if you babysit and leave on Fridays
A FAMILY advertised a room in their London home at £400 a month for tenants willing to babysit for three hours a day and live elsewhere at weekends.
In an advert posted on Spareroom, the parents said they wanted someone “calm, clean and organised” to care for their children, aged between one and three, from 3pm to 6pm, Monday to Friday, at their property in Clapham, south London.
In exchange, the successful candidate would be provided with a double bedroom and bathroom at a cost of £400 a month.
The description read: “Hi we are an Italian family looking for a student/au pair preferred Monday to Friday but we can consider full week for the right person (respectful of privacy).
“We are looking for someone who can help regularly with babysitting three hours per day 3-6pm. Our children are very sweet but very young 1-3 years old so we are looking for a calm, clean and organised person/no party.”
The family later altered the listing after it prompted a backlash online with critics accusing them of trying to “cheap out” on childcare.
The room has since been relisted on the website at £600 a month without the requirement to babysit, although tenants will still have to find alternative lodgings at weekends.
Despite the change, the new advert drew criticism online. One Reddit user posted: “[The landlord] obviously considered the £200 difference a ‘wage’. This, somehow, is worse (and I bet you’ll be left with the little cherubs anyway).”
Another added: “It never fails to amaze me how people will cheap out on paying people to look after their most precious possessions, ie their own children.”
In a statement provided to LBC, a spokesman for Spareroom said: “We review each of these ads on a case-by-case basis, factoring in the help requested, the hours involved, and the rent amount ... after taking these things into account, we decided to remove the ad.”
They added: “The advertiser has now re-listed the room, removing the childcare element. They’ve offered the room Monday to Friday, which is nothing new and is reasonably common.”