A SLEAZY landlord preying on vulnerable girls offered his lavish City flat for free - if the tenant was willing to share a bed with him for "cuddling".

Sick men and women are taking advantage of spiralling rents in the capital by advertising for tenants willing to avoid handing over cash by performing "other favours".

8 An undercover probe for Sun Online has lifted the lid on the seedy world of sex for rent landlords Credit: Sun Online

One pervy landlord offered our reporter a rent-free one bedroom flat in Canary Wharf - if she shared a bed with him twice a week.

Sun Online contacted men advertising on classified ad site Craigslist and arranged to meet two of them while posing as a prospective tenant in a "desperate" situation.

One, a kitchen top fitter, posted an advert for his swanky £1,800 pad in London's banking district in exchange for "other favours".

His ad continued: "No men, sorry".

8 Our reporter went undercover to meet one sleazy landlord offering his one bedroom flat for free Credit: Sun Online

8 She was told she would have to share a bed with the man Credit: Sun Online

8 We met the landlord in a coffee shop after emailing him on Craigslist Credit: Peter Jordan - The Sun

After expressing an interest in the flat, the landlord agreed to meet our undercover reporter in a coffee shop in London where he offered her his flat in exchange for a "cuddle".

Explaining what he meant by "other favours", the creep said: "So I stay sometimes there. Maybe help keep the flat clean and I'll be there, maybe.

"Sometimes once a week, maybe not at all if you're happy for me to be there."

When asked how the set-up in a one bedroom would work, he responded: "So we'd have to share."

8 The landlord was advertising his home for free on Craiglist Credit: Craigslist

'Obviously nothing is free in life' - what the sleazy landlord told our reporter Landlord: Yeah obviously nothing is free in life and I would accept something but nothing major really Reporter: So obviously your ad said 'other favours' and I'd like to know what this [means] Landlord: So I stay sometimes there maybe help keep the flat clean and I'll be there maybe sometimes once a week maybe not at all if you're happy for me to be there Reporter: And what would happen if you were there? Obviously it's a one bedroom so Landlord: So we'd have to share

The sleazy landlord continued: "Obviously we'll have to share the bed. So we'll sleep together maybe.

"Well maybe cuddling. We'll see what happens."

Footage captured by our reporter shows him smirking as she asks if "anything else" would be expected of her before replying: "I am an educated person and I know pretty well how the world works - there's a lot of crazy people around I'm not that kind of person.

"As I said maybe you do me a favour in return and we sleep in the same bed but that would be it you know."

8 The landlord was one of dozens advertising free rooms on Craigslist Credit: Sun Online

Caught on camera - What the landlord wanted in return Reporter: So what do you expect from me? Landlord: Something normal. Nothing crazy, nothing strange like normal really Reporter: When you say normal...I just want to know, I just want to be sure where I'm going to stand basically Landlord: Obviously we'll have to share the bed. So we'll sleep together maybe Reporter: They'll be nothing else other than just sleeping together? I mean you say sleeping, do you mean sleeping as in sleeping or do you mean anything else? Landlord: Well maybe cuddling. We'll see what happens Reporter: But you wouldn't expect anything else from me?

Landlord: No Reporter: Or would you? Landlord: I don't it depends where it leads us. Maybe just a bit of a cuddle

The landlord then said "you never know" when pressed on whether sharing a bed would have to go any further.

Sex for rent adverts are becoming more popular online as vulnerable youngsters and low paid people are priced out of accommodation.

Sun Online found dozens of listings on Craigslist in just one morning as landlords exploit hard-up tenants.

8 There are no known prosecutions over "sex for rent" in the UK because it is such a new phenomenon Credit: Sun Online

One boasting of his lavish Canary Wharf flat - complete with a gym, pool, sauna and jacuzzi - was willing to offer it for free if a tenant was willing to be a sex slave known as a "kajira".

Another advertising a "free rent for females" in Clapham, South West London, said: "You do not have to pay any rent for your stay with me in exchange for some mutual fun times together ;)"

While one living in Hayes said: "Any females looking for a place to stay for a night or a week let me know I have a king size bed and it's exchange for obey my rules".

8 When confronted by Sun Online, the landlord said he wasn't doing anything wrong Credit: Peter Jordan - The Sun

The law states a crime is committed when a person causes or incites someone to become a prostitute under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

But there are no known prosecutions over "sex for rent" in the UK because it is such a new phenomenon.

When confronted by Sun Online, the landlord said: "I mean all I am looking for is a bit of company so there is nothing...I am not asking for anything so I don't think it's anything wrong."

Our reporter suggested some of the girls might be feeling "quite vulnerable" or "desperate", but the landlord insisted he was "just trying to help".

He added: "They don't have to do any of that stuff [sleeping with them and cuddling]. There's a sofa, there's a living room. It's a big apartment."

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When asked if he thought there was "anything wrong" in the Craigslist ad he posted, he replied "no", adding: "This is an apartment, I only stay there a few days and maybe sometimes I don't stay for a few weeks at all so if somebody stays there I feel like the apartment is more secure.

"I'm not asking for anything in return because I don't really need anything."

The landlord was then reminded he was on camera telling our reporter he would like to sleep in the same bed as her and cuddle, but he said: "If someone wants [to] it's a different story, if they don't want [to] they don't have to."

Sun Online has contacted Craigslist for comment.

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