Homes without lounges are becoming a reality for renters on tight budgets faced, according to e BBC investigation.

Using data supplied exclusively to the corporation by flatshare website SpareRoom, the BBC says nearly a third of the properties advertised on the site featured no lounge area.

The article says landlords say turning a lounge into a bedroom helps them cover their higher mortgages and other extra costs, while meeting demand from tenants.

Analysis by SpareRoom shows some 30% of adverts for a room posted on the platform in the first half of the year were for places without a living room. That proportion was higher in London, at 41% while Birmingham saw an increase from 16% to 22% of adverts with no living room in the five years from 2020.

The data covers flat or house shares only, and does not include any studio, or one-bedroom listings.

Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, says: “We’ve had so many messages from people who met their best friends and partners in flatshares, who’ve raised families or started businesses together.

“Those kinds of stories will become rarer if communal, sociable spaces within homes are not protected. Sadly, loneliness is alarmingly common.

“With rents as unaffordable as they are now, it’s understandable people are looking for ways to cut the cost of living.”

Chris Norris, chief policy officer at the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) claims the “root of the challenges” was too few rental homes to meet demand.

The association says some landlords, facing a difficult outlook, were moving into offering multi-occupancy homes so their businesses remained viable enough to carry on.

“With rising costs and the expectation of smaller margins to contend with, some landlords will certainly be looking at how to use their investments most efficiently and meet demand effectively whilst delivering high-quality private rented homes.”