With this is mind, we’ve just added some brand new exciting features to our mobile site which we think will make a big difference if you need to advertise a room quickly or if you need to find a room on the go via any mobile device.

1 – Place your ad

The newest feature on our mobile site is the ability to now post an ad as well as browse them. This can be done easily by clicking on ‘I have a room’ and inserting your postcode. Once you’ve done that you need to include some details about your room or place such as the rent per month you’re expecting, a few personal details and then your ad will be posted after our moderators have checked the details. Very quick and very simple.

2 – Search for a flatshare

Our updated mobile site makes finding a flatshare even easier. Simply go to ‘I need a room’ and select the city of your choice. Then all you need to do is enter a few details such as your budget for rent per month and a few personal details so we can register you. Next you’ll be presented with a list of rooms we have available that match your criteria. You’ll also have access to a map which shows the locations of all the results to make it even easier to search the listings depending on the location you’re keen on.

It’s now easier and quicker to look and post a room than ever before – once you’ve got to this stage you can email or phone a flatsharer in one click.

From your feedback we know that you wanted  to be able to post ads and look at profiles on the go and we’ve responded so you can contact advertisers by phone or email to arrange a viewing while you’re on the move without needing to get to a PC.

We hope all these new features make it easier to publish your ads and help you find  your ideal room.

What do you think about these new features? You can let us know on Twitter and Facebook or leave a comment below.

Please keep the feedback coming!



With the average UK room rent coming in at £365 per month and an average net income of £1,665[i], UK renters are currently shelling out 21.9% of their monthly income. However with rents rising at nearly 5%per year tenants  will be facing the likelihood that next year they will be spending even more on their rent – an estimated 22.9%.

Off the back of our findings, we at Easyroommate decided to look into the most affordable place to live in the UK. Comparing the average rent and average net earnings in each city we found that:

Poole is the least affordable city with 27% of the average income being spent on rent – 5% higher than the national average. London is the second most unaffordable city. Despite having rents of £520 pcm, the highest in the UK, Londoners enjoy higher average wages (£1,985 per month).  This meant that 26% of the average income was spent on rent.

Ten Least Affordable UK Rental Towns

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Ten Most Affordable UK Rental Towns

Newport is the most affordable city, with monthly rents 30% (£85 pcm) cheaper than the national average – meaning rents cost just 18.2% of the local monthly net salary cheque. However, Yorkshire is perhaps the cheapest county for tenants, with five cities in the top ten most affordable.  Hull and Huddersfield are the second and third most affordable, with rents of just 18.6% and 18.7% of average net income respectively, while Leeds (19%), Sheffield (19.4%) and York (20.4%) also feature.

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For those of you living in London and in particular East London, the thought of renting out a room, or even your whole house during the Olympics may have crossed your mind at some point.

With an estimated 500,000 people heading to London to watch the games, it is the perfect opportunity to cash in on the increased number of people that will be visiting the city next year.

The findings from our most recent piece of research found that the average Olympic landlord is looking to charge a minimum of £399 per week – more than four times the current average UK room rent, and as the date nears rents are likely to rocket even further.  In the areas closest to the Olympic Park, rooms are currently available for as much as £600 a week.

However, if you are concerned about the time, cost and effort it takes to advertise your room, then you needn’t worry. Advertising online is one of the quickest and most efficient ways to ensure that your room is visible to a large number of people from across the globe. Listing a room on Easyroommate is free, or you can sign up for a membership which is relatively cheap. Both options provide you with the advantage of being able to clearly specify the kind of person you’re looking for making the search for a suitable tenant a lot easier.

To ensure that your Olympic renting experience runs smoothly, we have come up with our top ten tips to guarantee that finding a tenant is an effortless experience.

• Be sure to do relevant sense and document checks and get the tenant to sign an agreement.  Set out all your terms and conditions in writing and get all parties to sign it.  Although it does not form a private tenancy agreement, it does give you some protection.

• Tenant references can be sourced online to give you further peace of mind. Remember that letting someone into your home gives them an opportunity to access your personal documents, and it is worthwhile to consider investing in a safe.

• Advertise the room online. There are a number of sites online, like www.easyroommate.co.uk. It’s relatively cheap to become a member and listing is free.  It allows you to proactively contact people rather than having to wait for the phone to ring in the case of standard advertising.  It allows you to vet any potential lodger by viewing their profiles and details of themselves.

• Always include high quality pictures of the room and the property itself. Try to include a detailed description of the property. If you don’t make the effort nor will the person looking.

• Tell the potential tenant about the property’s proximity to the Olympic venues – they will want to know about the transport links, local facilities and amenities.

• Always meet the tenant first if you can. With the Olympics, many tourists will be travelling from abroad, so try to arrange a call instead and conduct a short interview and ask for references.

• The room itself should be neutrally decorated and fully furnished.

• Make any house rules and living boundaries clear from the outset. These should be included in the contract.

• Be aware you need to tell your mortgage lender if you let out your room or property because it may change the terms of your mortgage agreement.

• It’s worth checking your insurance policy to see what’s covered and make sure you don’t invalidate it.

The good news is that a room could be worth up to an estimated £4,250 tax free under the government’s Rent a Room scheme, and you don’t have to be a homeowner to take advantage. If you are currently renting your home and your lease allows you to take in a lodger you too can also benefit from the scheme.

With an increase in the average number of potential tenants looking for each rental room, homeowners are perfectly placed to tap into this high demand.  In popular cities such as London and Cambridge, the average monthly rent for a room is £520 and £430 respectively, allowing homeowners to benefit from up to an additional income of  £6,240 on average in London and £5,160 in Cambridge.

Cities with the highest rental demand per property

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The scheme entitles you to rent out a room or an entire floor within your home and it is simple to opt into. If you don’t normally receive a tax return and the additional income from the room is below the tax-free thresholds for the scheme, the tax exemption is automatic so you don’t need to do anything. The HM Revenue and Customs must be informed once the annual rental income is above the tax-free limit.

For more information please visit the Rent a Room website.

*UCAS figures 2011

The national hotline has been set up to coincide with EasyRoommate’s inaugural ‘Flatmate Day’ which celebrates the benefits of flatsharing and the lifestyle it offers. Recently, the UK population of flatsharers has swelled to 2,765,000 as renters abandon living alone to save money during the economic crisis, or are unable to get onto the property ladder due to a lack of affordable mortgages. EasyRoommate’s team is now encouraging flatsharers across the country to pick up the phone for advice and tips from a dedicated team of experts.

Jonathan Moore, Director of EasyRoommate.co.uk said: “There is no doubt that flatsharing is becoming more and more popular in the current climate – it’s a great way to meet people and earn some additional income if you are a homeowner or landlord. First time buyers are also renting for longer in light of the mortgage drought and are using this as a way to save a deposit for their own property.”

“Operating a dedicated hotline for one day is a great way for us to provide some extra assistance to those with burning questions about flatsharing. If you’re thinking of letting out your spare room for the first time or renting a room in a shared house and want some extra support or advice, help is at hand from our experienced team.”

EasyRoommate has been providing a high volume of flatshares, houseshares and rooms to rent all over the world for over 10 years. The site is safe, scam free and its content is kept up to date by a 24/7 dedicated customer service team. A subscription based website, it matches people advertising a spare room with those looking for a room.

A dedicated EasyRoommate team will be available between 10am – 4pm on 24th March to answer flatsharing queries. If you have a question for the EasyRoommate team, please call 0207 292 3370.

For more information on ‘Flatmate Day’, please go to: www.facebook.com/flatmateday and enter a competition to win a party worth £300 by simply submitting your party idea.

Press contact

For further information, please contact Karen Richards, PR Manager on 07412 609695 or email karen.richards@easyroommate.com

Notes to editors

· The national hotline will operate from 10am – 4pm on 24th March 2011

· Further facts about flatsharing in the UK:

- The current UK average flatsharing rent is £399, up from £365 a year ago, a rise of 9.3%

- Currently 100,000 ads are posted on EasyRoommate.co.uk every month

- London has a flatsharing population of 636,000, which has risen by 13,500 in the last three years

- There are currently four people looking for every room being offered

About EasyRoommate

Easyroommate.com is the world’s number one flatshare and houseshare website. It has been running for over ten years and operates in 29 countries across the world, in 12 different languages. The site is safe, scam free and all the content is up to date. Its advanced search facilities and dedicated 24/7 customer service set it apart from other flatshare websites. Easyroommate will not keep outdated ads to misrepresent its content or artificially increase its database.

It’s easy for a family, or professional couple to sort and reduce their waste. But for those of us in shared accommodation, it’s a slightly different story.

You may be living with people you don’t know very well, keeping different hours. You might not have the space to store much recycling between collections. And you might not be able to face dealing with it on your own, if your flatmates are not very motivated.

Here are some tips for taking the strain out of recycling if you are living in shared accommodation – let me know how you get on with them or if you have any more you’d like to share in the comments!

Get everyone on board: although we are getting better at recycling, it’s good to have some handy statistics to persuade doubting flatmates. Did you know that recycling just one tin saves enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours? Or that recycling paper uses 70% less energy than making it from raw materials? Or that 60% of what we throw away could be recycled? Check out www.recycling-guide.org.uk for more facts and tips on recycling.

Divide and conquer: ask your flatmates to take responsibility for just one or two types of waste. This helps to spread the load and make recycling easier to do more frequently. Perhaps the flatmate that’s a bit of a wine buff could be in charge of glass. Or the flatmate that starts every day with a newspaper could take charge of paper and card. Recycling one or two materials is a lot less daunting than coping with eight or nine.

Make it easy on yourself: a recycling bin that looks good and fits in with your style is more likely to be used and be a positive endorsement for an eco way of life than lots of overflowing bags. I love Ben the Bin home recycling bins, they offer a smart solution to recycling sorting and storage. Or if you are pushed for space, a set of stacking home recycling bins gives you vertical storage for your recyclables.

The rest of the story: another way to make recycling easier is not to make so much waste in the first place. Reduce and Reuse are the first two elements of the waste disposal triangle, and even more crucial than recycling. See if your household can reduce waste by sharing food shopping; you’ll cut down on food and packaging waste, and save money. Check out www.recyclethis.co.uk for loads of great suggestions for recycling and reusing unusual items. Look at your rubbish and see if there is any particular thing you throw away a lot, and try and come up with an reusable alternative.

Good luck, and let me know how you get on.

Nigel Berman is the founder of Nigel’s Eco Store, with lots of recycling bins and energy saving products for the home.

Flatmate Do’s:

- Get talking: Ok, so this might seem like a bit of an obvious choice, but you can wiggle out some interesting conversation out of even the most reticent of flatmates through topical chit-chat. Why not ask them what sort of music they’re into, or better still, offer to watch a good artsy foreign film with them? Even if it’s only for a couple of hours, you might find that you share similar interests with at least a couple of your home buddies.

- Ready, steady, cook: A table for one is not exactly much fun, at home or in a restaurant. Why not try sharing your cooking with others, or better still, assign tasks to three or four of your flatmates to cook up a storm in the kitchen. If you’re not much of a chef, you could always order in some take-away, or take care of the drinks whilst others rustle something up with a few pots and pans.

- Drinking games: These are fail-proof ways of getting people talking around a sofa or kitchen table. Be a bit more daring than ‘I have never…’ or Truth or Dare and get the heads spinning with some alternative games, perhaps with some foreign banter. The rules are simple: you think of a word, in a foreign language, and others need to add on an extra word related to the theme, but in a foreign language.

- Let’s get physical: Cleaning doesn’t have to be a chore, if you set out some simple rules from the beginning – share the tasks, and if you’re living in a big house or flat, chances are you won’t have to do much per week! Put some music on or have a film playing on in the background, with a cup of tea shared with your roomies at the end.

Biggest Don’ts:

- Smells. Don’t stink out the place with your cigarette smoke, body odour or mouldy dishes in your room. Your mum doesn’t find it attractive, and chances are, nor do your flatmates.

- Stashing cutlery or mugs in your room. Leave at least a couple of knives and forks in the kitchen – don’t go round hording cutlery as it’s not really going to make you any friends in the long run.

- Playing your music out loudly in the early hours of the morning. Really like the new Katy Perry tune? Make sure your flatmates do too, especially if you’re stomping it out after a night out clubbing.

- Staining or damaging the house. Get some Vanish stain remover, and quick. If someone’s stained the floor, either in your bedroom or the communal areas, you won’t want your deposit taken away at the end of your lease.

- Stealing food. Ok, well maybe you can have a little bit of that chocolate sitting on the fridge shelf, but expect it to be done back to you. Even if you lick everything you own. In front of people.

With these great student tips, you’re bound to have a wicked time flatsharing!

Thanks to Natacha Cullinan at ThirdYearAbroad.com for contributing this article!

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Blindsinabox are the perfect solution to your privacy and security needs when you’ve just moved in – ideal for students and those in temporary accommodation. For landlords, they can be reused or replaced with ease and cheaply, and there’s no need for drilling holes in window frames, either. Nurses, Police, Fireman, and basically anyone who works nightshifts knows how difficult it can be to sleep during the day, and Blindsinabox offer the kind blackout protection you’ll certainly appreciate. And, in our age of environmental consciousness, they’re recyclable, too.

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Since then, they’ve appeared in articles in The Observer, Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Evening Standard, The Sun, The Guardian and numerous other papers throughout the UK. Blindsinabox have also appeared in magazines such as House Beautiful, Prima Magazine, Limited Edition and other magazines and have appeared on Sky News, Working Lunch (BBC2).
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