You can rent our home for free - so long as you look after Grandma...

A London couple have used a lettings website to advertise for flat sharers in their property overlooking the Thames - it costs nothing, but the tenants would have to look after a 93 year old grandmother with a fondness for crosswords and puzzles. 

Oxford physics graduate Ross and his partner Sofi are looking for flatsharers via the Spareroom website and have poasted a lengthy advertisement which explains that Margaret - Ross’s grandmother - will soon live in the flat with the couple and suffers from occasional memory loss which is partially vascular dementia and partly old age. 

If someone is willing to help out with the couple’s caring responsibilities, they will enjoy a 2,000 square feet three bedroom, three bathroom apartment next to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. 

“We are offering accommodation including bills (worth over £1,500 a month), in exchange for grandma-sitting duties. We ask for roughly 30 hours of grandma sitting per week and to commit to two nights sleeping at home (10pm to 8am). Grandma sitting involves spending time with Margaret doing all the things she likes but also helping her to get dressed, showering and sometimes cooking for her” says the couple’s online advertisement.

“We are flexible on which days of the week you would like to grandma-sit and happy to exchange a few hours here and there. We do ask however that you do at least two mornings as part of your 30 hours a week” the couple suggest. 

So far the couple have been inundated with over 200 responses according to the Huffington Post, and have added this message to their advertisement: “Thank you to all those who have contacted to wish us well or share their own stories of caring for a loved one - it helps a lot - we are really nervous about the responsibility we are about to take on and want to try our best to get it right. This includes those of you who have kindly offered to come and sing/play music to my Nan! You are awesome and we will be baking lots just for you!!!”