Unusual ways to rent in London

Charlotte Greavy (right) pays a reduced rent in exchange for companionship

Not a day passes without a reminder of the shortage of affordable rental property in London.

Cases have been reported of teenage girls sharing rooms with strange landlords, people sleeping on sofas in kitchens and sheds and increasing numbers are sleeping on the streets.

Some Londoners are sidestepping the city's sky-high rents by living in unusual ways. BBC London hears from three of these people.

Charlotte Greavy, an A&E nursing assistant, spent nine months living with 91-year-old Judy in Primrose Hill for £150 a month - an area of London where renting a one-bedroom flat costs about £2,000.

Living with Judy enabled Charlotte to save for a masters and a place with her friends, she says

Because I am from Ireland, estate agents said I would have had to find six months' rent or ask my parents to be a guarantor. I'm 27, I didn't want that.

I thought why don't I do a live-in, in exchange for lodging? I looked up home share with an older person on Gumtree and found Judy, through an organisation called SweetTree.

The rent I paid was in exchange for 10 hours' companionship a week, so I would either stay in the house and cook, or we would go out for a meal together, each evening from Monday to Friday. She really loves the pub - she loves rosé and to have a pudding.

Judy was very independent and joyful - she didn't want to let life pass her by.

It was not very easy, at the start, because you are not living with someone your own age. It took adjusting to, but if you are a strong-willed person you find your own routine in managing.

I was helping an old woman, she was very grateful, and I was grateful for a cheap room.

At the weekends, I would go out - she would love it if I was out late. She would support me, as well - she was quite modern in her thoughts around dating men. She made friends with the guys I was dating.

It helped me save up a deposit for a place of my own - I live in Croydon now, sharing with two others. I also saved up for a masters degree in nutritional medicine.

I miss living with Judy - she had such a unique sense of humour. But we are still friends, and I visit her often.

Volunteer receptionist Robert Bell, 60, has lived in a community in Archway, north London, for nearly 30 years. He pays around £500 - one-bedroom flats in the area are about £1,500 a month. Twelve people live there and share a kitchen, bathrooms and a lounge.

Robert Bell says that living in a community means you "don't have to be lonely"

I started living here in 1987, an old friend suggested it - I came very close to the start. The rest is history, so they say. We built it up from the beginning. We rent from Peter Bedford [a housing association for vulnerable adults].

We live in a very communal way and we all have our own beliefs - there are Christians and Buddhists living here. The people I live with are aged 25 to 64. We try to be an equal balance between male and female, but it doesn't always work out.

We make decisions together.

Mr Bell says competition to live in the community can be intense

People who live here do very diverse things - there is a teacher, an architect, a Spanish musician, a flamenco dancer and a social entrepreneur.

Once a month each person cooks for everyone else, so we have a meal together every three days.

Living here, you don't have to be lonely - if like me, you haven't had a family of your own, there are always people around for companionship.

Many community houses in London have extensive gardens

If someone has some sort of crisis, which has happened from time to time, it can impact on everyone else. Sometimes we have arguments, as we are human beings.

When we have a vacancy we have a lot of interest, and any people who come to live here must have a trial and we can turn people away.

James is 32 and pays £281 a month to live with 25 people in a former Citizens Advice Bureau in Balham, south London, where one-bedroom flats cost about £1,500, a month. He rents through an agency called Camelot, which maintains properties that have become vacant. He has lived there for nearly two years.

James says he could have to move out at any time with only two weeks' notice

I first moved here as I was renting for £450 a month and I realised I could get three rooms all the size of my old bedroom for around £360 a month - which is really cheap for where I live.

There are people who play in bands, civil servants, a comic book artist, a midwife and quite a few DJs who live here. But I don't know everybody.

We have an office toilet with a makeshift shower and an office tea room and one bathroom per 12 people on our floor - some of the kids are so bad at cleaning up after themselves. We have a lot of passive-aggressive notes. It makes me remember university.

I don't want any part of the kitchen, but I like having my own room and I have decorated it myself - I have room for my records and decks. The strip-lights and the carpet are horrible. I don't know of anyone breaking in - the combination on the front door changes.

We could have to move with two weeks' notice but, if so, Camelot finds us somewhere else, and I'm not too worried about that happening now.