Copied and pasted from an article in today’s edition of The Times. It’s behind a pay wall, so I can’t share it.
Platforms like TrustedHousesitters, which connects homeowners with people willing to look after their pets and properties while they’re away, have seen a sharp rise in longer-term arrangements. According to Angela Laws, head of PR and charity partnerships at TrustedHousesitters, sits lasting more than 29 consecutive days have increased by 110 per cent since 2022. In 2025 alone, there were 20 per cent more long-term sits than the year before.
“The majority of our sitters are based in the US, with 65.3 per cent identifying as solo female travellers,” Laws says. “Our largest age cohort is the 25–45 age group, making up 61 per cent of our total sitters.”
“We do know that people are keen to explore new ways to travel, especially in a post-pandemic world. With TrustedHousesitters, travellers can explore new destinations, enjoy the company of pets and all for a fraction of the cost of traditional holiday habits.”
@TheEnglishFlaneur In the last sentence of the quoted content, if you change the word holiday to housing it gives it a totally different slant. I realize that the person being quoted didn’t title the article, but the title is:
Keep in mind I didn’t read the full article, but I was able to pull the title from an AI search. However, the writer is for some reason approaching the topic from a similar direction to the marketing department of TrustedHousesitters, in trying to appeal to those looking for alternatives to paying rent.
I was initially surprised by the data showing the majority of sitters are in the 25-45 age bracket. I would have thought it would be an older sector. However, with the company’s recent marketing direction, it does make sense. My guess is that the overall profile of the sitter community has changed in the past five years (post-pandemic) for a variety of reasons. I can only hope that the good sitters still far outweigh the bad ones.
So it seems THS sees their niche as longer term sits, and more of a temporary housing situation than a travel accommodation.
Which has some merit honestly, for a one week sit they are competing with hotels, air bnbs, etc. For a 2 month sit, maybe you can find an Air BNB or VRBO but they have a more unique space than 1-2 weeks.
So maybe the per sit fees were designed to slant the platform to longer term sits and away from weekend sits, because they don’t see themselves being competitive there.
Sorry; Coming from the newspaper industry, we call the New York Times “The Times,” and the London Times “The Times of London,” but sometimes also just “The Times” for short when we’re in the UK. So still not clear, but I guess I can just go do a search for the article content as Snowbird did.
I wouldn’t have guessed those statistics. I for sure thought retired people would be the majority. When I reflect on my applicants, there have been a very large number of solo women. Very interesting indeed! Thanks for sharing.
established 1785….
