House sitting involves looking after someone else’s home (and often their pets as well) in return for staying in the property for free for the duration of the house sitting job. With London hotel and vacation rental prices continually rising, it’s a fantastic way to stay in one of the world’s most expensive cities for free.

Where Can I Find Home Sits in London?

The majority of London home minding jobs get posted on the following websites:

• House Carers
• Mind My House
• Nomador
• House Sit Match
• Trusted Housesitters

These websites allow homeowners from all over the world to post their own house sitting jobs and members who are interested in taking on the house sit can get in touch with the homeowner directly.

Of the five websites above, Trusted Housesitters typically tends to have the most home minding opportunities for London, as well as typically having several hundred in other cities and towns across the UK. Competition can be fierce, as given the cost of staying there normally, London is a very coveted place to housesit.

To apply for house sits on Trusted Housesitters, you’ll need to be a member (which costs $89 per year) and you’ll also want to apply quickly – ideally as soon as the job is posted.

All of the other sites regularly feature opportunities in London, however Trusted Housesitters tends to be the best for this particular city. Mind My House and Housecarers usually tie in second place.

Aside from these homesitting sites, it’s possible to find assignments in other places, particularly classifieds websites. In the UK Gumtree tends to be the most popular. Craigslist does have a small following in London, however it is nowhere near as popular as Gumtree.

Applying For A House Sit

Once you’ve found a house sit that you’re interested in doing, the next step is to apply for it.

Regardless of whether you’re applying through a classifieds website or a home sitting site, it’s important that you present yourself as trustworthy and reliable.

Some of the things that you can do to appeal to homeowners are:

• Get a police background check: In the UK, this is as simple as going into a police station and filling in a form (the process is similar in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand). It takes about two weeks to arrive and costs around £10 but having a criminal records check (proof that you have no previous convictions) will make a world of difference in convincing homeowners that you’re the right person for the job.
• Get some references: If you’ve never taken on a housesitting job before, you won’t have any previous references, however that doesn’t stop you from being proactive and building up your profile. Get in touch with friends and family that have pets and offer to house sit for them. Not only will you be doing a friend a big favour, but you’ll also earn yourself your first reference. (Often just having one reference to your name is enough).
• Make a connection: Do whatever you can to make a connection with the homeowner. Some of the easiest ways of doing this are to explain why you are interested in doing this particular house sit and telling them a little bit about who you are. Homeowners are, naturally, very interested in getting to know the person who will be living in their home while they’re away.