These landlords asked me for sex instead of rent
- Published
'Bedroom in return for cooking, cleaning and oral once or twice a week'
鈥淎ll I鈥檓 asking for is sex in exchange, yeah?鈥
It鈥檚 a Friday evening in central London and I鈥檓 sat across the table from a 25-year-old man who is offering to share his east London bedroom with me, rent-free. The catch? I鈥檒l have to have regular sex with him if I want to keep a roof over my head.
I have gone undercover to expose the scale of the 鈥楻ent For Sex鈥 issue in the UK, in which landlords are offering 鈥渇ree鈥 accommodation in exchange for sexual acts听- and I want to find out how big the problem is for a 麻豆官网首页入口 Three documentary.
One offers a 鈥渞oom for a discreet bi/gay man鈥 who 鈥渕ust be ok with receiving anal鈥, another advertises a 鈥渇ree room in return for cooking, cleaning and oral once or twice a week鈥.
The 24-year-old landlord, who I meet in Scotland, says he鈥檚 looking for 鈥渁 blowjob or sex, every second day or something鈥 and tells me he is 鈥渢aking the human aspect out鈥 of sex. 鈥淚鈥檓 treating it as a business transaction,鈥 he says.
He thinks I'm a 24-year-old nursing student with no alternatives. He lives in a house share in London - but says his housemates won't be a problem, as we can pretend I'm his girlfriend.
When I express reluctance, he听tries to convince me he is a better alternative to "those older guys" offering rooms online. "It'll be fun," he says. "Trust me."
He is not the only man offering rent for sex. When I log on to a popular classified adverts website, almost immediately I find dozens of ads offering rooms in exchange for 鈥渁dult arrangements鈥.
Ellie Flynn in disguise after meeting one of the landlords
These ads come from all over the UK, from Brighton to Edinburgh, in big cities and in small towns. I begin replying to the adverts.
Within minutes I receive sexually explicit responses. One landlord immediately asks me for my body and bra size, another says we can 鈥渃hat on WhatsApp, as long as you鈥檙e happy to come to an arrangement鈥.听
I arrange to meet a number of landlords - and am stunned by the diversity of people I meet. One is just 24 years old, another is offering up his daughter鈥檚 bedroom now that she鈥檚 at university, and a third says I can stay in a log cabin he built in his back garden 鈥 if I鈥檓 willing to have sex with him in return. Most of the landlords I meet live alone, but one says he has tenants, and then there's the guy who lives in a London house share who wants to tell his housemates I鈥檓 his girlfriend.
The 24-year-old landlord, who I meet in Scotland, says he鈥檚 looking for 鈥渟ex every second day or something鈥 and tells me he is 鈥渢aking the human aspect out鈥 of sex. 鈥淚鈥檓 treating it as a business transaction,鈥 he says.
I鈥檝e portrayed myself to these men as a vulnerable young woman who is struggling financially and has nowhere to go. I鈥檓 struck by how nonchalant these landlords appear while asking me to sleep with them in order to keep a roof over my head. They don鈥檛 seem to consider how I might be affected by what they鈥檙e asking of me.听
In fact, most of the landlords don鈥檛 seem to feel they鈥檙e doing anything wrong - but Rent For Sex adverts could be illegal. Offering a room in a house in exchange for sex might be ,听which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years in England and Wales.
In fact, when I wrote to the landlords after our meetings to reveal the investigation and ask for their response, only two replied. One said he was looking for a consensual sexual agreement and had done nothing wrong, while another said his intentions were innocent and he only wanted a couch-surfing arrangement - where he鈥檇 allow me to stay on his sofa free of charge.
But the reality is that the people responding to these adverts are likely to be broke, vulnerable and have nowhere else to go.听
I met a young woman who had entered a 鈥楻ent For Sex鈥 arrangement when she was 20.
She didn鈥檛 realise what the arrangement was until she moved into the property and realised she鈥檇 be sharing a bed with the landlord. She told him she didn鈥檛 want to sleep with him, but he would consistently try to touch her. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 force himself on me, so I am grateful for that.鈥
She was homeless before meeting him, and stayed there a long time despite the harassment for fear of becoming homeless again. When I asked the landlord about it, he said he believed the fact she had stayed meant she was not unhappy. He claimed he never asked for or had sexual intercourse with her.
I confronted a middle-aged landlord who was offering a Rent For Sex arrangement at the Newcastle flat he lives in, alone. Initially, he stormed out of the caf茅 where we鈥檇 met, but he eventually agreed to talk. He told me he was looking for 鈥渃ompanionship鈥, saying, 鈥渋t wasn鈥檛 just about the sex鈥.
He told me he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 know he was doing anything wrong鈥. When we explained that a woman staying with him might have felt obliged to have sex, even if she didn鈥檛 want to, in order to avoid homelessness, he said he understood that this is a grey area for consent.听
Nonetheless, he said he 鈥渃an鈥檛 truthfully answer鈥 whether he will look for one of these arrangements again.听
The landlords I met did not seem to grasp that what they are doing is wrong.听
"In our society, it seems acceptable for people to wield their power over the vulnerable in order to get what they want, no questions asked,鈥澨齟xplains Ellen Moran of Acorn, a tenants union and anti-poverty group.听鈥淭hat power is entrenched and such actions are ignored by law enforcers. Sometimes, though, this happens because people are alienated in their society to such an extent that they crave physical affection without knowing considerate ways to get it. Sometimes it is a mixture of those two things.鈥
Her organisation is now campaigning for a change in legislation to make Rent for Sex specifically illegal - possibly under modern slavery laws - so that landlords can be prosecuted.
"The authorities need to publicly recognise that it is a crime and act on that by prosecuting in order to dissuade perpetrators,鈥澨齭ays Moran.听
鈥淲e need real change in order to solve this problem.鈥
Rent for Sex:听Ellie Undercover听is on 麻豆官网首页入口 Three iPlayer
Originally published 28 February 2018.
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