Letting agent investigates alleged ‘sex for rent’ listing after Twitter user alerts Rightmove
The dubious listing, which has appeared on both Rightmove and Zoopla, is being investigated by the agent involved.
A letting agent who advertised a property offered to female tenants only at a very low rent in exchange for ‘special favours’ is being investigated by Rightmove after the listing was spotted by a member of the public.
Twitter user Lindsay Denton saw the listing yesterday on Rightmove and contacted the portal to ask “how can you sanction and post this on your website with such confidence?!”.
Rightmove and Zoopla have acted quickly and taken down the listing, which was for a two-bedroom terraced house in Longbridge, Birmingham on Mill Brook Drive advertised by agency StudentTenant.com.
The shared accommodation property is offered at £23 a week per bedroom to a “female student” and available “on a reduced rent for special favours to be discussed”.
After being contacted by Denton, Rightmove replied rapidly to say that, “As soon as we became aware of the text in this listing we immediately removed it from the site, as it is obviously unacceptable.
“We have spoken with the agent advertising the property who have confirmed that they’re carrying out a full investigation.”
Commentators on Twitter have questioned why Rightmove is not able to spot dubious conditions included in property listings, while others questioned whether the remarks within it were not “borderline soliciting”.
If the listing’s suggestive remarks are sexual, then they are part of a growing problem in the UK rental market.
In February BBC undercover reporter Ellie Flynn presented a documentary that followed up on ads online like one uncovered today. She unveiled a “staggering amount of rent for sex adverts” that “appear unchecked online”.
Statement from StudentTenant.com
“It has been brought to our attention that a property has been uploaded by a private landlord to our platform with the view to exploit students. This is something that we would categorically never condone, and we are deeply saddened to see this type of offering on our website,” the company says.
“We have measures in place to ensure that no contact details are ever passed to a landlord without our prior communication with both parties, so students are protected before any property viewing goes ahead. As the largest online student letting agent, we have the tenants safety as our top priority. We will be carrying out a detailed internal review to further improve our processes as well. We have reported this to the relevant authorities and are working to ensure this never happens again.”
