Every new listing on Among Our People is checked before it reaches you, and a person decides about anything that looks wrong. Everyone who applies for a live-in homeshare confirms who they are first. And you can report any listing, profile or chat, or block another member, at any time.
Finding a room, a flatmate or a place to stay means trusting someone you haven't met yet. We can't meet everyone for you. But we can look at every listing before you do, and give you a way to act when something feels off. This is how each of those works, and where each one stops.
How every new listing is checked
Rooms, live-in homeshares, "room wanted" cards, Stay with a local and vacation rentals are all checked when they're first posted. A listing that's already live is checked again whenever its wording or its price changes, so a change gets the same look as a new listing.
The check looks for two kinds of trouble. The first is the usual signs of a scam:
- asking for money or a deposit before anyone has seen the place,
- pushing people to talk or pay somewhere other than Among Our People,
- an owner who's abroad and can't show the place,
- keys sent by post,
- pressure to pay quickly.
The second is wording that shuts people out because of their race, ethnicity, religion, disability, body type, HIV status or gender expression, or because they're trans. "No fems" and "masc only" are the familiar examples. Plenty of us have scrolled past lines like that on other sites, and they don't belong in a home that's meant to be for the community.
A clean listing goes live straight away. If something looks wrong, the listing is held back, the host sees a short note saying "Your listing is getting a second look", and a person reads it.
That person decides. Nothing is removed automatically. If a listing is removed, the host is told the specific reasons and can reply. And removing a listing never deletes it, so if we've got it wrong, it can be put back. An automatic check is good at noticing things. It isn't good at judging them, and we'd rather a real person made the call about someone's home.
Some things look like exclusion to a machine but aren't, so these are deliberately not flagged:
- saying who a home suits by gender or orientation, such as a gay male household or a flat for women,
- house rules and lifestyle, from quiet evenings to no smoking,
- low rent on a live-in homeshare, where a low price is normal rather than suspicious.
Photos are checked too
Every photo was already checked for nudity and violence. Now listing photos that carry a "made with AI" label, the kind many image tools add to the pictures they make, are also held for a person to look at.
We'll be honest about the limit. This won't catch every AI image, because a screenshot of a picture loses its label. So treat it as one more layer, and still ask for a video call before you pay anything. Our guide on how to spot a rental scam before you pay anything goes through what to look for.
Why live-in homeshares ask applicants for ID
A live-in homeshare is a lower rent, or no rent, in return for some help around the home. It might be someone with a spare room who'd like company in the house and a hand with the shopping, and someone who needs an affordable place to live and is happy to help. It can suit people at very different stages of life.
What makes it different from an ordinary room is that the host isn't a landlord at a distance. They live there. So we look after them. Most of Among Our People leaves verification up to you, but live-in homeshares are the one place where it's always part of applying. This is the wording you'll see on the site:
"Your host is opening their home to you. To look after them, everyone who applies for a live-in homeshare confirms who they are first. It's a photo of your ID and a quick selfie, checked by Stripe, and we don't keep a copy."
It's free for now for members whose profile is 100% complete. Otherwise it's €15, £15 or $15. There's no way round it: the site itself won't accept an application for a live-in homeshare from someone who hasn't verified, so it doesn't depend on a host remembering to ask.
Hosts don't have to verify. That might look one-sided, but the risk isn't the same on both sides. An applicant can meet a host, see the home and walk away. A host who says yes is letting a stranger live with them. Anyone can still choose to verify, hosts included, and a Verified badge then shows on their profile.
A badge tells you someone is who they say they are. It can't tell you what they're like to live with, so keep doing the human part too: talk properly, and meet before you agree to anything. It also isn't a Right to Rent check, which is a separate legal check that landlords in England have to do, and it doesn't replace one. If you're taking someone into your home in England, our sister site has a guide on how to choose a lodger that covers it.
Report and block: what happens when you press the button
Report is on every listing, every profile and every chat. When you report, you pick the reason that fits best:
- It looks like a scam
- The photos or listing look fake
- Hateful or exclusionary language
- Harassment or unwanted messages
- Something else
You can add a note if you'd like to explain more. It's optional, but a sentence or two about what you saw helps whoever reads it. Then you'll see this:
"Thanks for telling us. We read every report, and the person won't know it came from you."
Both halves of that are true. A person reads every report, not a filter. And we never tell the member you reported who sent it. If you've only been talking to one person, they might still guess, so if that worries you, block them as well.
Depending on what we find, we can remove a listing, suspend a member, or close the report if there's nothing to act on. A suspended member can't sign in, and their listings are hidden. They're told by email, and they can reply to appeal. All of it can be undone. That's deliberate: reports are made in good faith, but people can be mistaken, and we'd rather be able to put something right than leave a member locked out for good on the strength of one complaint.
You can block another member from their profile or from a chat with them. You don't need a reason, and nobody has to review anything. This is what the site tells you:
"They won't be able to message you or apply to your listings, and you won't see each other on Among Our People. We won't tell them."
If you change your mind, there's a Blocked members list on your account page where you can unblock anyone.
The two do different jobs. Block when you simply don't want to hear from someone again. Report when what happened could affect other people too, such as a listing that looks like a scam or a message with hateful language. If both apply, do both. Blocking someone doesn't stop your report being read.
What was already in place
None of this replaced what was there before. For rooms and homeshares, messages open only once both people have shown interest. Phone numbers, emails and web links are blocked in listings, profiles and enquiries, and people who aren't members can't see contact details. And we never ask anyone to prove they're LGBTQ+.
Where this fits with Among Our People
No website can see a flat for you, and none of this replaces your own judgement. So the advice on our safety page still stands: never pay before you've seen the place, in person or on a video call, and keep the conversation on Among Our People until you've met. If you're looking for a room in London, our London renting guide covers the rest of the search.
Everything we do is set out on one page, How we look out for you. What you get is a place where every listing has been looked at before it reaches you, and where a real person hears about it when something feels off. ✦
Last reviewed: 25 October 2026