Ensuite bedsit. Lower the rent in return for help

£500 pcm rent is the market rate for the bedsit. We want to lower this in exchange for help and housework around the home.
The amount the rent will be lowered will depend on the number of hours of help you are able to do. It may work out that there is no rent to pay.

We are looking for somebody who is studying or works from home or works in the Deal/Canterbury area. We are offering an attractive and self-contained space in exchange for some housework to help my mother and my brother, who has multiple sclerosis. He has carers who come in every day.

This is not a simple transactional arrangement - we are looking for a mutually beneficial, warm and flexible relationship, which suits everybody’s needs.

The accommodation, which has was refurbished to a high standard just 6 months ago, is the partial basement of a single storied house. It is a private space, well set up for one person. There is a toilet, basin and shower as well as a kitchenette, bench table, good hanging and storage space and a single bed. Laundry can be done in the main house. There is a parking space. It’s a compact and well designed bedsit. It has windows but because of its position, the natural light is limited.

We are looking for a lodger to do 12-15 hours a week of general help around the house. For example: tidying, cleaning, preparing food, basic IT, household admin, keeping them company and gardening. Time helping them will lower the amount of rent you pay.

We also need you to be ‘on call’ at night in case of an emergency. This does not mean you have to be in the house every night, but you need to be there most nights.

Currently we have a lodger who has lived very happily in ‘the cabin’ for the last 6 months. The ‘help in exchange for rent’ contract has been successful because there has been good will and flexibility on both sides. My mother and brother are generous, warm and easy going and really enjoy the company of their carers and their lodger. Another of my brothers lives just around the corner.

The house and the surrounding area is quiet and well looked after. The sea is less than a 10 minute walk. The town of Deal is a 20 minute walk.

Could this work for you? If so, please send me a message with a bit about yourself and why this arrangement might be right for both you and for them.

We will need references and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Thank you, Mark