Ads offering free rooms in exchange for sex surface amid rental crisis Down Under

Melbourne, Feb 15 (ANI): Taking advantage of Sydney's rental crisis, some men are placing online advertisements offering women free rooms in exchange for sex.

Targeting desperate women looking for somewhere to live, the zero-rent ads are becoming increasingly common on popular 'share house' rental websites.

There have been numerous complaints about the ads, which some website users have dubbed 'offensive', but they do not breach policy guidelines for sites such as flatmates.com.au

A statement on flatmates.com.au says that if the site were to impose a ban, the ads would merely go underground, making the process unsafe for women.

One advertisement offering free rent for a female to "share a room" was placed by a 32-year-old Auburn man calling himself Atiq.

Atiq told The Sunday Telegraph he was looking for a relationship with a woman in a "clean" one-bedroom unit. Yes, I am alone and the rent would be free. I am looking for a girl to share my room and, yes, in the same bed," News.com.au quoted him, as saying. (ANI)