This London flat is available for £850 — but the ‘bathroom’ might put you off

Eleanor Noyce

Published November 1, 2024 3:26pm Updated November 5, 2024 9:13am

Interior of a studio flat in London that costs £850 per month, with a 'prison' toilet, kitchen area and small single bed pictured — A studio flat has gone up for £850 – but there’s little to no privacy (Picture: OpenRent/Rightmove)

From derelict houses selling for almost £2,000,000 to a £10,000 flat with a rapidly expiring lease on it, the brutality of the London housing market never ceases to shock us.

Now, the rental market has one-upped itself with a listing that sees a studio flat – albeit for the relatively cheap price of £850 per month – that’s missing one crucial detail.

Who needs privacy, really? If this is a mentality you can get behind, then this could be the property for you, as it’s not a door the toilet is enclosed by: it’s a curtain. Yes, a shower curtain. You read that correctly.

Marketed by OpenRent and advertised on Rightmove, the listing appears to be relatively compact. The nature of a studio flat is that everything is contained in the same space – and this property is no exception.

Here, you’ll find the kitchen cabinets (complete with a hob and oven) directly next to the desk, wardrobe, and bunk bed with storage beneath.

This studio flat could be yours for ?850 - but the toilet is covered by a curtain Bulwer Street, London, W12 Single studio flat on the first floor of a Victorian building with an outlook onto gardens. For single occupancy only. — This looks cosy (Picture: OpenRent/Rightmove)

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Then, things start to get a little wacky, as we see a freestanding shower (without a bath because of the space constraints, understandably) and a toilet made private by little other than a grey shower curtain with a huge gap at the top.

How’s that for hygiene levels? Right next to the kitchen, too.

For London though, the listing isn’t a bad deal. According to statistics from Zoopla, the average monthly rent for the Big Smoke currently comes in at £2,121 per month, having experienced a 4.2% increase in the last year alone.

And at £850 per month, this is more than £1,000 under the market average, which is arguably a steal. If you’re willing to abandon all hopes of dignity when you’re doing your business, that is.

However, since the studio flat is only suitable for single occupancy, you’ll have sufficient privacy when you’re home alone, at least. But if you wanted to welcome guests around for dinner, you might need to brief them beforehand.

Transport-wise, it’s well-equipped too, being just five minutes from Shepherd’s Bush tube station in West London, as well as a five-minute walk from both Westfield shopping centre and Lidl. What more could you possibly need?

As is inevitably the fate of many wacky property listings in London, it made its way onto the Spotted on Rightmove Reddit thread – and not everyone was impressed.

‘What’s that darling…you’ve got the sh**s? No…didn’t hear a thing,’ laughed @Mysterious_Swan9676 in the comments section.

‘That is all bloody disgusting. The toilet and that bed what the hell? London or not have some shame landlords, ffs,’ @Phyllida_Poshtart added, as @Severe-Stress-329 described the listing as ‘truly awful.’

For @TheFirstMinister, it crossed the line, as they argued that they had ‘spent time in jail cells larger and more hygienic than this,’ a position that @Otherwise-Extreme-68 agreed with, writing: ‘even in prison you get a door.’

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