This man wants a flatmate to pay £1 a month to live in his £3million London house

The founder of flatshare site SpareRoom, Rupert Hunt, is looking for 2 or 3 housemates in his period house in Spitalfields. The chosen housemates can pay as little as a quid a month – they just have to be good people to have around.


In his SpareRoom ad, Rupert says:
“I’m offering the rooms on a ‘pay what you can afford’ basis. I’m far more interested in finding the right people to share with, who I’ll enjoy having around and add something to my life, than maximising my rent.”
The lucky housemates will get access to a music room, with a baby grand piano, a garden room, and even what Rupert calls “the Disco Lounge”.
But he warns potential flatmates that he has a work hard, play hard schedule and admits: “Chances are I won’t be everyone’s ideal flatmate.”
The full ad reads:

I’m looking for 2 or 3 housemates to join me in my very creaky, possibly haunted house in the heart of Spitalfields.

THE HOUSE

The house, which I currently share with a small mouse, a bear, two peacocks (and various other birds and animals), is in a quiet spot between Spitalfields Market and Brick Lane. All except the mouse are stuffed, so a flatmate with a cat, or a terrier (preferably not stuffed) might be appealing.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD

I’m offering the rooms on a ‘pay what you can afford’ basis. I’m far more interested in finding the right people to share with, who I’ll enjoy having around and add something to my life, than maximising my rent (and market rent round here would price some people out). So if you’re my perfect flatmate and happen to be volunteering and can only afford £100 per month, I’d sooner take you over someone who can pay full whack but who isn’t quite right.

I’m not after flatmates who just want cheaper rent though. You’ll need to genuinely want to share with me – for your benefit as much as mine: The people you live with can be the difference between you dreading going home each day or having the time of your life. Even if this is the house of your dreams, I might be your flatmate from hell

ME

I’m a work hard and play hard sort of person. During the week I often head to bed at 10pm and get up at 6 or 7am, while at the weekend I might not get to bed till 6 or 7! On the other hand I’m easily tempted into fun so do end up having the odd unplanned big night in the week. Equally, I occasionally have the urge (or need) to spend the weekend in the office.

Nights out typically entail, pubs and/or cocktail bars, followed by dancing like people who can’t dance till kicking out time, then home for ‘disco lounge’.

Weeknights tend to centre round the kitchen, where we eat, drink and talk about the day, perhaps ending on a few games of shithead and cocoa before bed.

By the way, I’m also the founder of SpareRoom.

WHO I’M LOOKING FOR

I don’t have any specific requirements really, as, from past experience, you can’t predict who will make the best flatmates. I tend to like people who don’t take themselves (or life) too seriously, but have a passion that they do take very seriously.

THE ROOMS

I have 2 rooms available. One is in the basement and is next to a guest room with an en-suite you can use most of the time. The second is a smaller room on the first floor (well, due to the higgledy piggledy nature of the house, it’s more like floor 0. 5!) and has its own toilet.

There’s plenty of communal space. On the ground floor there’s the Music Room. It doubles as a dining room in the winter and houses my double bass and Granny’s baby grand, which, unfortunately, goes unused since one of my ex-housemates moved out. So someone who plays piano might be a nice bonus.

Then there’s the Garden Room, which is a nice place to have tea, read or gaze out into the ‘garden’ where the wild things grow. The garden needs some serious TLC, so someone with greener fingers than me might be appealing.

Upstairs there’s Disco Lounge, the epicentre of our nights out and nights in, but also a great place to relax (or recover!) over the weekend.

If you’re interested, please get in touch and let me know more about you and what I might expect living with you.

…and finally…

If you’ve watched the video attached to this advert, you’ll know that I’ve decided to film my journey, to show people the process (and that it can be fun!) and to spread the word that living with the right people beats living alone.

Unfortunately this means we’re forced to work around film schedules, so you’d need to be available on the 3rd or 4th of February and be prepared to appear in my YouTube series.

If you’re interested in following my journey, subscribe to the SpareRoom YouTube channel and like me on Facebook for updates on my progress and to see who I end up living with.

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