SpareRoom vs OpenRent: rooms, whole homes and what you are really signing

Will I be a lodger or a tenant?

It depends on who lives there, not on the website. If the landlord lives in the home and you share a kitchen, bathroom or living room with them, you are a lodger. If the landlord lives elsewhere, you are almost certainly a tenant, even if you rent one room in a shared house. Live-in landlords are common on SpareRoom, so this matters more there.

It changes a great deal. A lodger’s deposit does not have to be protected, you can be asked to leave with reasonable notice rather than a court order, and the Renters’ Rights Act changes from 1 May 2026 do not apply. Ask whether the landlord lives there before you view. Lodger or tenant explains the difference in full.

Do I have to pay to use SpareRoom?

Not always. Free users can contact bold ads, and free ads once they are more than seven days old. New free ads are reserved for Early Bird users for their first seven days. When we checked, Early Bird cost £15 for a week, £27 for two weeks and £30 for 28 days. OpenRent does not charge renters to enquire or book a viewing.

Early Bird is a charge from the website for its service, and it is optional. It is not a payment to the landlord, and it buys you a head start on new ads, not a room. If a landlord or agent asks you for a fee of their own to view or apply, that is a different thing, and in England it is almost always banned.

Does either site check who I am dealing with?

Partly. SpareRoom offers optional identity verification, checked against independent databases, and people who pass get a tick on their ads. It is voluntary, so no tick does not mean a scam, and a tick confirms a person, not that they own or can let the room. OpenRent says it has systems to verify that a landlord owns the property, and shows a verified badge once a landlord has let through Rent Now.

SpareRoom’s own advice is to see the landlord’s ID in person, not as an emailed scan, and to check the owner at HM Land Registry. Who owns this property? explains how.

How is the money handled?

On OpenRent, if the landlord uses Rent Now, you pay a holding deposit of one week’s rent by debit card to OpenRent. It then collects your deposit and first month’s rent, protects the deposit with mydeposits, and pays the landlord ten days after you move in. On SpareRoom, money is arranged directly between you and whoever is letting the room, so the protection depends entirely on them.

That makes the payment the riskiest moment on SpareRoom. Ask which government-approved scheme will protect your deposit if you will be a tenant, pay by bank transfer to a name you have checked, and never pay with a prepaid card. OpenRent warns that money paid straight to a landlord outside Rent Now is not protected by it either.

Are scams more common on one than the other?

There are no reliable figures comparing them, and scammers use every site. What changes is the shape of the scam. A Which? investigation found listings on SpareRoom that moved the conversation to WhatsApp, said viewings were not possible, and asked for a deposit before any viewing or through a fake booking link. Wherever you are looking, those are the signs.

• You are asked to move to WhatsApp or email before you have viewed the room.
• The landlord is abroad, or cannot show you round, and asks for a deposit to hold it.
• You are sent a booking or payment link from a site you did not choose.
• The rent is well below similar rooms nearby.
• You are rushed: other people are interested, and you must pay today.

Which should I use?

The one that has the kind of home you want. If you want a room or a flatshare, SpareRoom is built around them. If you want a whole home from a private landlord with the paperwork and deposit handled through a platform, OpenRent is built for that. On either, the checks before you pay are the same, and they are yours to make.