A woman who lived with a landlord for free in exchange for sex said she is ‘grateful’ to have not been raped.
A shocking new documentary has revealed the scale of landlords offering up tenancies in exchange for sex.
In the BBC Three’s Ellie Undercover: Rent For Sex, reporter Ellie Flynn sought to expose the lurid phenomenon by messaging sleazy London landlords on classified site Craigslist.
One put her in touch with a former tenant who told of how he tried touching her while she was staying rent-free with him.
Ms Flynn met with a group of different men advertising on Craigslist while pretending to be interested in a a sex for rent agreement
‘I would just feel almost paralysed every time he tried to touch me but he didn’t force himself on me,’ said the unnamed woman.
‘In a sense I am kind of grateful he didn’t do that.’
The woman added: ‘The idea of consent gets mashed up because a woman thinks this is the exchange I have to give this man in order for me to have a roof over my heard.’
Ms Flynn also met with a group of different men advertising on Craigslist while pretending to be interested in a a sex for rent agreement.
But the men claim no wrongdoing has taken place, despite preying on vulnerable girls desperate for a roof over their heads
The unnamed woman’s former landlord told her that she would be sleeping in the same bed as him but assured her that she could ‘keep her pyjamas on’.
Another asked that she perform a sex act on him ‘every second day’ while another said: ‘I’m just doing it ’cause I just wanna f**k.’
But they claim no wrongdoing has taken place, despite preying on vulnerable girls desperate for a roof over their heads.
One landlord told Ms Flynn that she would be sleeping in a log cabin, adding: ‘It’s a physical arrangement once a week. We get together, have a bit of fun, that’s it.’
Sex for rent adverts are on the rise as vulnerable young people and those in low paid jobs are priced out of accommodation
‘Nothing abnormal, nothing strange. I’m a normal guy.’
Another said: ‘All I’m asking for is sex in exchange, year?’
Sex for rent adverts are on the rise as vulnerable young people and those in low paid jobs are priced out of accommodation.
The law states that a crime is only committed when a person causes of incites somebody to become a prostitute under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
There are no know prosecutions in relation to sex for rent in the UK due to the phenomenon being so new.
- Ellie Undercover: Rent For Sex is available to watch on BBC Three from 10am on February 28.