Rent-stressed man's freeload plans nixed

Rent-stressed man's freeload plans nixed

• Source: Global Times
• [09:12 March 15 2011]
• Comments

Xu (left) sits in the meeting room where he will sleep for free on March 9. Photo: Yang Jie

By Zhang Hui

A young man who decided to try spending a month living in different people's houses for free due to rising rents had to abort his plans after only a few days, when his employer intervened.

"I'm going to get kicked out of my company soon if you media don't give me a break," Xu Dandan, 29, told the Global Times Monday.

Xu works as an Internet analyst in an investment company, which he described as a rather "serious" organization that did not want him to be so high profile.

Xu started sleeping at other people's houses on March 8, but gave up on his migratory approach and settled at one friend's house Monday, after several talks with his company's higher-ups.

"I did not expect so much media coverage, or so much attention from my company," Xu said.

Xu posted on his qq.com microblog that the property management agency had increased his rent, and he wanted to adopt a creative way to solve his housing problem.

He said he would give up his apartment and then take turns sleeping at friends' houses for free, a tactic he believed could both improve old friendships and create new ones, the Beijing News reported.

Over 40 Web users invited him to their houses the same night he posted his plan, only five of whom Xu had ever previously met, according to the paper.

Lin Cui, who offered to put Xu up for free, told the Beijing News that Xu seemed like a good person, and that she lives with her boyfriend, so she was not worried about safety.

Xu is not the only person to have attempted to find free housing when confronted with escalating rents.

A man surnamed Chang who works in Daxing district posted online recently that he was seeking free accommodation in exchange for housework, water and electricity payments.