Sex For Rent

Thought living in an overpriced shoebox with a mould problem was the darkest the housing crisis could get? Sadly not. Creepy ‘landlords’ advertising a home in exchange for sex is on the rise. Cosmopolitan’s Jennifer Savin answered some of these ads…

- Jennifer Savin

When a low, steady voice from behind calls my name, my heart rate shoots up. It is the same voice that slimed its way out of my iPhone receiver a few days ago when I arranged this pub meeting with a potential new ‘landlord’. I whip round and see an overgrown Michelangelo cherub of a man in a strained checked shirt. He’s nursing a whisky at a table by the door. The fiftysomething male in question is Marc*, who posted an advert for his available spare room in the ‘Housing’ section of the Craigslist website, which I have replied to. However, unlike my previous landlords who only required me to pay a deposit, my rent on time and to not fuck up their house, this guy requires no deposit, no rent and that I fuck him every now and then.

He buys me a glass of white wine, as a friend (who I’ve brought along as a safety precaution) slips into the bar to observe from a table across the way. “So, as you’ll have seen in the advert, the house is beautiful. It’s one of four properties that I own across London. I’m very fortunate to have run my own business since I was 24 – your age. The same age as my son, in fact,” says Marc. I swallow the Sauvignon and he continues, “I don’t have any rules, apart from that there are to be no men in the house. If you meet men outside the flat, I need to know all the details.”