At Room For Rent, we believe the process of finding and renting a room should bestraightforward, transparent, and fair for everyone involved. Renting a room is one of the most common ways people live in the UK, yet many online platforms make it unnecessarily complicated or expensive for the very people who rely on them.
Room For Rent was created to change that.
Founded by Yogi Kansagra, the platform was built with a clear mission: to create a fair,accessible and purpose-driven room rental platform that works equally well for tenants and landlords. Instead of charging users simply to communicate or placing barriers between people who want to connect, Room For Rent focuses on providing genuine value while keepingthe core experience open and accessible.
The Moment That Started It All
The idea for Room For Rent began with a simple but powerful observation. Living and working in central London, Yogi often noticed people experiencing homelessness asking for spare change at traffic lights. Over time, these encounters prompted a deeper reflection on the state of housing in the UK.
At the same time that thousands of people were struggling to find stable accommodation, there were also thousands of spare rooms sitting unused across the country. The contradiction was striking.
How could there be such a large supply of available rooms while so many people struggled to find somewhere to live?
The issue wasn’t simply the number of rooms available. The real problem was how difficult and expensive it had become to connect people who had rooms with people who needed them.
Many existing platforms had introduced paywalls and messaging charges that created unnecessary friction. In some cases, tenants had to pay simply to send a message to a landlord—making the process feel less like a housing solution and more like a gated marketplace.
That moment sparked what Yogi describes as an “aha moment.” What if there was a platform designed differently? One built around fair access, genuine value, and a social purpose rather than extracting fees at every step of the process.
From that idea, Room For Rent was created.
Fairness for Tenants and Landlords
Room For Rent was designed from the ground up with one central principle: fairness on both sides of the marketplace. Tenants deserve to search and contact landlords without being forced into messaging upgrades or hidden charges. Landlords deserve a platform that helps them not only advertise rooms but also manage their properties more easily. Unlike many platforms that focus purely on listings, Room For Rent aims to support landlords throughout the entire rental journey. Our platform offers practical tools that help landlords stay organised, communicate clearly with tenants, and manage their properties efficiently.
These include:
● Free document storage for tenancy-related paperwork
● Free maintenance logging to track repairs and property issues
● Access to maintenance professionals when work needs to be done
● Optional electronic tenancy agreements for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland
● Secure online rent payments to simplify rent collection
These tools are designed to reduce the administrative burden on landlords while creating a more transparent experience for tenants.
For many landlords — particularly those renting out a spare room in their home — property management systems can be overly complex or expensive. Room For Rent provides essential tools without unnecessary complications.
Removing Barriers to Communication
One of the biggest frustrations many tenants face when using traditional room rental platforms is discovering they must pay simply to contact a landlord.
Communication is at the heart of finding the right home and the right tenant. When messaging is restricted behind subscriptions or credit systems, it creates friction that benefits the platform more than the users.
Room For Rent takes a different approach.
We believe communication should be open, simple, and accessible.
By removing unnecessary messaging charges, we make it easier for tenants and landlords to connect quickly and start meaningful conversations. This improves the chances of finding the right match while keeping the process fair for everyone.
Tools That Support Landlords
While fairness is a core value, practical functionality is equally important. That’s why Room For Rent goes beyond simple listings and provides features designed to help landlords manage their properties more efficiently.
For landlords, the platform is not just a listing service—it also acts as a lightweight property management hub, making it easier to handle listings, communicate with tenants, and manage the rental process in one place.
For landlords, the platform acts not only as a listing service but also as a lightweight property
management hub.
Landlords can:
● Store tenancy agreements, identification documents and property records securely
● Free messaging and bulk messaging
● Keep track of maintenance issues through a simple logging system
● Connect with trusted maintenance professionals when repairs are needed
● Generate and sign legally compliant e-sign tenancy agreements for all UK jurisdictions
● Collect rent digitally through secure online payments
These features help reduce paperwork, improve record keeping, and streamline day-to-day
property management.
For tenants, this also means greater transparency and a more organised rental experience.
Building a Better Rental Marketplace
The UK’s room rental market is large, diverse, and constantly evolving. With more people choosing flexible living arrangements, the demand for well-designed room rental platforms continues to grow. Room For Rent aims to support this shift by creating a marketplace that prioritises clarity, fairness, and practical tools.
By combining open communication with property management features, the platform helps both tenants and landlords navigate the rental process with greater confidence. Instead of focusing purely on monetisation, we focus on building long-term trust.
Meet the Founder
Yogi, founded Room For Rent with a simple belief: that businesses can succeed while also contributing positively to society.Inspired by everyday moments on London’s streets and motivated by the desire to create a more ethical alternative in the room rental sector, Yogi set out to build a platform that serves both users and the wider community.
His vision continues to shape the platform today.
Every feature and decision is guided by the same question that sparked the original idea:
Is it fair, useful, and purpose-driven?
If the answer is yes, it belongs on Room For Rent
More Than Just Listings
Room For Rent is more than a marketplace for spare rooms. It’s a platform designed to connect people, simplify renting, support landlords, and contribute to a more balanced housing ecosystem. Because finding a place to live — or managing a room in your home — should be simple, fair and built on trust.
