Rental squeeze: Bottom bunk for lease

The advertiser is asking for a female flatmate and would prefer any prospective tenants to stay in the bed alone. Photo / Trade Me

A bed in a prime Auckland location is going for cheap on Trade Me, the only catch is you'll have to sleep under a Japanese woman.

A flatmates wanted listing on the website is advertising a double bed in a two-bedroom apartment on Queen Street for $170 per week, with free internet, power and water included.

Also provided free are toilet tissues, laundry powder, fabric softener, salt, sugar and cooking oil.

It is the bottom tier of a bunk-bed, with the top mattress being occupied by a 20-year-old Japanese woman, according to the listing.

The advertiser is asking for a female flatmate and would prefer any prospective tenants to stay in the bed alone.

The account that posted the listing is also advertising for a double bed in the living room of the same apartment, asking for a single tenant.

There are three exisiting flatmates, the Japanese female and two Brazilian men.

Last month, the Herald reported on renters in Auckland who were sharing bedrooms and "hot-bedding" to cope with sky-rocketing rents.

International students are believed to be the most vulnerable to exploitation in the rental market, with the cost to rent an apartment close to university campuses jumping out of reach for those on limited incomes.

This listing states there is one international student in the apartment already, and promotes its proximity to central city universities.

Under the Housing Improvement Regulations 1947, a house is over-crowded if two people over the age of 10, of the opposite sex, are sharing a room, unless they're a couple.