Tired of Giving Money to a Landlord? Try House Sitting

Naturally, many young people are looking for alternatives to the rental hellscape – one that really flips the script on the modern day landed overlords. You might’ve noticed your Instagram Stories flooded with people sneakily subletting their rooms for a few days here and there. It’s become such a thing that people are even joking about booking out their spaces by the afternoon.

In more drastic measures, there are permanent sofa surfers, modern communes (minus the cult-like tendencies) and now, the pièce de résistance, the ultimate middle finger to the vile rental system, an option that swerves filling the pockets of evil landlords altogether: house and pet sitting.

According to Trusted Housesitters, a website that matches potential house sitters with homeowners, there’s been a 147 percent increase in sitters aged 25 to 35, since 2020. 

“Fifty percent are solo female, nine percent are solo male, and the rest are couples or non-binary genders,” Trusted Housesitters’ community manager, Angela Laws, tells VICE. “Pet and house sitting fits in with so many travelling lifestyles, it’s so different from being transient in hostels and one-room accommodation. It's a form of travel that connects you with a community and allows remote workers to work and live their lives in an affordable and sustainable way.”

For London-raised artist Aubrey, 29, house sitting has been a lifeline. “In 2019, my landlord promised us verbally that he was going to renew our tenancy, but at the last minute he decided to sell instead,” they say. (Aubrey chose to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, like others in this piece.) A friend mentioned they’d been cat sitting in central London – “living in lovely plush apartments for over two years, rent-free” – so Aubrey asked if they could take on one of their extra requests. “It’s very referral-based, so after a few jobs I set up a Facebook page with reviews from previous homeowners and I haven’t looked back.” 

For the past four years, Aubrey has moved from coast to coast via recommendations from her Facebook page, living in spaces from picturesque farmlands to interior design havens. “It only really slowed down during the lockdowns, but never completely, because the lockdowns left many people unable to get back to their pets and homes,” they say.

Key perks include saving on accommodation, obviously, but also on utilities like Wi-Fi and council tax, laundry, and other related living costs. It also allows young people the very exciting prospect of not sharing a kitchen (!), while saving your junior salary pennies and enjoying the companionship of a pet everyday.

Each day looks completely different, explains Aubrey, because you need to be attentive to the individual pets' needs and any notes left by the homeowner. “I’m someone that enjoys spending time alone so the prospect of staying in with a dog on the weekend isn’t too daunting,” they add. 

This sitter lifestyle has allowed Aubrey to “not have the pressure of needing to make rent every month” and “to have more space for my art and my creative practices” – alongside cultivating a better work-life balance. 

So being a sitter sounds literally, um, idyllic. But what are the downfalls of house sitting as a young person? Are there even any? 

“For starters, there are no guarantees that the sits will be available in the locations of choice, or that the sitter will be chosen,” explains a spokesperson for Trusted Housesitters. “Cancellations happen, too, so having a good plan B in place is crucial.” It all comes with a unique set of responsibilities, it’s not actually simply free accommodation. And the competition is fierce in certain cities.

Then there’s the general lifestyle requirement to consider. If you prefer the “leaving bars at sunrise” kind of life, then housesitting might not quite be for you. 

House sitting forums discuss even more stressful scenarios, like being turfed out unexpectedly by a homeowner, or actually being deported from a foreign country for not having a proper work visa. Many countries – including the UK, U.S. and Canada – don’t allow you to legally house sit on a tourist visa, as shown by a myriad of anecdotes on the House Sitting World Facebook group.

Granted house sitting is far from a risk-free, but the upsides outweigh the downsides for both Aubrey and Fole, a 25-year-old university outreach worker who’s been house and pet sitting for just over a year, using platforms like MindMyHouse. 

For Fole, the instability is worth it for “the freedom to travel without having loads of extra costs” – oh, and the ability to actually save money. Just imagine your salary staying in your bank account, with no rent goblin poof-ing half of it away in an instant.

Even though Aubrey is now at a point where they’re looking for something a bit more stable and steady – “because it’s really difficult never feeling like you have roots” – they credit their recent house sit for opening their mind to what this future could look like. 

“It was a dog sitting placement, a house surrounded by land with a polytunnel,” they say, meaning a sort of revved up version of a greenhouse – the kind of bio set-up Chris Martin dreams about. “I got my entire lunch from the vegetables there, and now I’m thinking about living somewhere like this permanently.”

“You have to be more open-minded about where you live location-wise,” admits Fole, “but in comparison to box rooms for £750 at the very lower end of the market in major cities, I’ll take having to bring a pup to the pub any day.”

Fole started house sitting in 2022, while on sick leave from preventive double mastectomy surgery. She plans to continue house sitting while backpacking around South and Central America soon, and even when she moves to Canada next year. 

“We’ll still housesit, following a similar routine to what we've done in London, which has been an unbroken string of sittings,” she says, adding that the move is partly due to the rising cost of living in the UK. Chronicling her house sitting journey on TikTok, Fole has spoken to a whole host of people who’re part of the scene – from those who live like this full time to save for house deposits, to people who’ve had house sitters in their homes for 14 years.

History student Ben, 21, has been house sitting ever since he started university in Dublin. He always knew he wanted “an alternative to traditional renting”, partly out of principle. “So many governmental policies favour homeowners,” he says. “It’s a political game and rigged system that leaves students like myself with the short end of the stick.” 

House sitting has been a way for Ben to express his political beliefs, alongside saving him money. “It’s also definitely been a huge help for me mentally,” he adds. “After the lockdowns, I almost forgot how to socialise and the idea of that kind of isolation continuing at college was daunting. Through house sitting, I’ve met great people and even better pets.”

With calls for affordable housing, legislation and protection for renters beginning to feel more and more like screaming into the wind, the future of housing for non-homeowners looks uncertain. As a result, young people will surely continue to move towards unconventional living styles, creating small waves of disruption in an unbalanced market. And if they save a few pounds in the process, then more power to them, right?

Moving in with a furry friend and a vegetable patch to take care of might not be in everyone’s five year plan, but considering the shit show that’s been the “roaring twenties” so far – it might just be the sanest solution to the cost of living crisis yet.

@ata_owaji 

Update: This article was updated to reflect information about visa requirements for house sitting.