SpareRoom founder Rupert Hunt advertises rooms in his £3 million mansion for as little as £1

'I would expect most people would be able to afford more than £1. But that’s not to say I wouldn’t accept that'

An image of the living room in the £3 million property (SpareRoom)

The founder of flatshare website SpareRoom has decided to rent the empty bedrooms in his £3 million home on a ‘pay what you can afford basis’.

Rupert Hunt, who is looking for two flatmates to share his Grade II listed property, has said he is willing to accept offers from anything as little as £1 to £1,000, which is the typical rate for rooms in the area.

Mr Hunt said the reason behind his generosity was because he wanted to live with the right flatmates, and feared the market value of the rooms would “price out a lot of people”.

One of the bedrooms available to potential housemates (SpareRoom)

The five-floor Georgian house has six bedrooms and comes complete with a music room, garden room and disco lounge. Of the two bedrooms up for grabs, one is in the basement and the other is on the first floor of the property.

On the advert, Mr Hunt joked that he shared the "creaky" house, which could be haunted, with an array of stuffed animals including a bear and two peacocks.

“I’m not doing this for the money. I’m doing this so I can live with people who are going to enrich my life,” he told The Independent, adding that he did not want to live with someone who was just looking for a “free ride”.

“I would expect most people would be able to afford more than [£1]. But that’s not to say I wouldn’t accept that – two people who’ve lived with me have paid nothing.”

Mr Hunt has used his own website before to find the perfect housemates, but this is the first time he has done it publicly as the founder of SpareRoom.

After splitting up from his wife, he took to SpareRoom in 2013 to “try out my own service and do the ultimate market research”.

“But what I wasn’t expecting was how much I would enjoy it and the realisation that living with the right flatmates is better than living on your own."

The 41-year-old said he was open to living with almost anyone, as long as they had a good rapport, shared interests and similar habits such as “attitude to washing up”.

The only catch is that whoever takes up the houseshare must be prepared to feature in Mr Hunt's YouTube film, which is aimed at promoting the benefits of living with people.