DEMAND for somewhere to live is now so high that people are prepared to pay £450 a month to live in a garden shed.

One homeowner advertised what was described as “a double room in a garden house”, in Outram Road, Florence Park, on Internet site Gumtree with a selection of photos.

Prospective tenants are offered use of the kitchen, bathroom and washing machine within the main semi-detached house for their annual rent of £5,400.

The Oxford Mail traced the property and a man at the house said he was contacted by a number of people interested in taking the offer.

Last night it was described as another example of the dire lack of affordable accomodation in the city.

The man behind the advert, who refused to give his name or to confirm whether the shed had been previously occupied or was yet to be built, said he had had a number of enquiries.

But he had “cancelled the project” because he needed to do more research.

He said: “I got a lot of feedback and about 80 per cent were positive about it. If you put insulation in it I think it should be fine – if people want to live in that shed that’s their choice.”

Oxford City Council has launched an investigation after being alerted to the ‘room’ being marketed.

Council board member for housing need Joe McManners said: “I think this demonstrates how dire Oxford’s housing crisis is that people are charging a large amount of money for what essentially looks like a shed. It is indicative of the shortage of housing to be rented at affordable rates.”

Currently, there are 6,338 people in Oxford on the waiting list for council housing. While the council has about 8,000 properties, each year less than 600 become available for rent.

Mr McManners said: “You do hear anecdotally about people who rent out their sheds or make funny little extensions.

“It’s difficult to know the exact scale of it but it is not acceptable in the 21st century for people to be living in sheds.”

Jan Bartlett, who runs Premier Lettings in Cowley Road, said she had previously refused to let out a property in the Florence Park area that had a similar arrangement.

She said: “The tenants would be very vulnerable because they would have to be desperate to take a garden shed, no matter how well it’s done up.”

Concerns would include insulation, fire risk, electricity and sewerage, along with planning issues.

Simon Tyrrell, associate director of Finders Keepers in Cowley Road, said “common sense” would dictate whether it was appropriate.

He said: “I think it is indicative of greed rather than the state of the housing market.

“If they were trying to rent it for £150 a month it would be different.”

He pointed out about 24 per cent of the property in the city was rented, more than the national average, but admitted rents were high.

Council spokesman Louisa Dean said: “We have been made aware that someone is advertising a double room in a garden house for rent.

“At this stage, we do not know where the property is but we would be concerned whether this garden building (or its use) has or requires planning permission.”