# SpareRoom Scraper - UK Room & Flatshare Listings (`logiover/spareroom-uk-room-rental-scraper`) Actor

Scrape SpareRoom UK room and flatshare listings in bulk. Extract rent, location, room type, availability, advertiser name and type, photo count and listing URL to CSV/JSON. No API key, no login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/logiover/spareroom-uk-room-rental-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Logiover](https://apify.com/logiover) (community)
- **Categories:** Real estate
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.50 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## SpareRoom Scraper - UK Room & Flatshare Listings

![Apify Actor](https://img.shields.io/badge/Apify-Actor-00A67E?logo=apify\&logoColor=white) ![No API key](https://img.shields.io/badge/No%20API%20key-required-2ea44f) ![Pay per result](https://img.shields.io/badge/Pricing-Pay%20per%20result-1C7ED6) ![Export](https://img.shields.io/badge/Export-JSON%20%7C%20CSV%20%7C%20Excel-F59E0B)

**Scrape SpareRoom UK room and flatshare listings in bulk. Extract rent, location, room type, availability, advertiser name and type, photo count and listing URL to CSV/JSON. No API key, no login.**

***

### What does the SpareRoom Scraper do?

This Actor turns any SpareRoom search into a structured dataset. You give it by area or by search URL, it walks the result pages one after another, and it writes one clean row per listing into your dataset — ready to export as JSON, CSV or Excel, or to pull straight from the Apify API.

SpareRoom renders its search results server-side with structured `data-listing-*` attributes on every card. The Actor reads those attributes plus the card body, so no browser or login is needed. Pagination is followed automatically until it runs out of results, hits your page limit or hits your **Max items** cap, whichever comes first. Every row is de-duplicated across the whole run, so you are never billed twice for the same listing.

There is **no API key, no login and no browser** involved. That keeps runs fast and cheap, and it means you can schedule the Actor without worrying about credentials expiring.

### Who is it for?

- **PropTech and rental platforms** benchmarking room-level supply and pricing.
- **Property investors** assessing HMO and room-rental yields by postcode.
- **Letting agents** tracking competing listings and advertiser types in their patch.
- **Housing researchers and journalists** quantifying shared-housing affordability.
- **Relocation services** compiling live room availability for client briefings.

### Use cases

- Export every live room listing in a city to analyse rent by area and room type.
- Compare live-in landlord listings against agency listings in the same postcode.
- Track weekly rent movement for double rooms across London boroughs.
- Measure how quickly availability changes across a whole rental market.
- Build an affordability dataset joining rent to area and room type.

### Why use this SpareRoom Scraper?

- 🔑 **Keyless** — no account, no API token, no cookies to paste.
- 📦 **19 fields per listing** — everything the result page exposes, already typed.
- 📄 **Real pagination** — it walks page after page instead of returning the first screen.
- 🎯 **Precise caps** — **Max items** stops the run exactly where you want it, so the bill is predictable.
- 📊 **Export anywhere** — JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML, plus the Apify API and integrations.
- 💸 **Pay per result** — you pay for rows you actually receive, with no platform fees to calculate.

### What data can you extract?

Every run produces one row per listing, with these fields:

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `listingId` | string | SpareRoom listing ID |
| `title` | string | Listing headline |
| `listingUrl` | string | Full listing URL |
| `price` | number | Advertised rent as a number |
| `priceText` | string | Rent exactly as displayed, e.g. £750 pcm |
| `priceperiod` | string | Billing period parsed from the price, e.g. pcm or pw |
| `currency` | string | Currency of the advertised rent |
| `location` | string | Area and postcode district shown on the card |
| `roomType` | string | Room type, e.g. Double room or Single room |
| `availability` | string | Availability note, e.g. Available now |
| `shortDescription` | string | Teaser description from the card |
| `advertiserName` | string | Name of the advertiser |
| `advertiserRole` | string | Advertiser type, e.g. live out landlord or agent |
| `advertiserVerified` | boolean | Whether SpareRoom marks the advertiser as verified |
| `photoCount` | number | Number of photos on the listing |
| `imageUrl` | string | Main listing photo URL |
| `searchArea` | string | Search area this row came from |
| `page` | number | Result page the listing appeared on |
| `scrapedAt` | string | ISO timestamp of extraction |

#### Output example

```json
{
  "listingId": "18339470",
  "title": "Single Room - Chelsea Area (All Bills Included)",
  "listingUrl": "https://www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/flatshare_detail.pl?flatshare_id=18339470",
  "price": 975,
  "priceText": "\u00a3975 pcm - bills inc.",
  "priceperiod": "pcm",
  "currency": "GBP",
  "location": "Chelsea (SW10)",
  "roomType": "Single room",
  "availability": "Available now",
  "shortDescription": "SINGLE ROOM - CHELSEA / KING'S ROAD AREA. A well-presented single room...",
  "advertiserName": "Marc",
  "advertiserRole": "live in landlord",
  "advertiserVerified": false,
  "photoCount": 7,
  "imageUrl": "https://photos2.spareroom.co.uk/images/flatshare/listings/unmodified/10/02/100275106.jpg",
  "searchArea": "london",
  "page": 1,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-09-11T09:02:44.120Z"
}
```

### How to use

#### Option A — by area

```json
{
  "searchAreas": [
    "london",
    "manchester"
  ],
  "maxPagesPerSearch": 30,
  "maxItems": 1000
}
```

1. Open the Actor and fill in the area field.
2. Set **Max pages per search** and **Max items** to bound the run.
3. Click **Start**, then export from the **Output** tab.

#### Option B — by search URL

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/london"
    }
  ],
  "maxPagesPerSearch": 50,
  "maxItems": 2000
}
```

Paste one or more SpareRoom URLs into **Start URLs** and the Actor paginates each of them independently.

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|-----------|------|---------|-------------|
| `searchAreas` | array | `–` | UK areas to search, e. |
| `startUrls` | array | `[]` | SpareRoom search URLs to crawl instead of, or in addition to, the areas above. |
| `maxPagesPerSearch` | integer | `10` | How many result pages to walk for each search. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `500` | Stop after this many listings. |
| `maxConcurrency` | integer | `3` | Parallel requests. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | `{"useApifyProxy": true}` | Proxy used to fetch pages. |

### Tips for best results

- Use a city or area slug such as `london`, `manchester` or `bristol` — the Actor builds the search URL for you.
- London returns by far the deepest inventory; smaller towns run out after a handful of pages.
- Rent is normalised into `price` plus `priceperiod`, so compare pcm against pcm, never raw text.
- `advertiserRole` separates live-in landlords, live-out landlords and agents — a strong filter for HMO research.
- Listings refresh constantly; schedule daily runs if you want reliable availability tracking.
- Set **Max items** to control the bill when crawling a large city.
- Rows with a null `price` are listings that advertise rent on application.
- Keep **Max concurrency** low; SpareRoom is a small site and responds better to gentle crawling.
- Join `location` postcode districts to public rent statistics for affordability analysis.
- Pair with the Rightmove or OnTheMarket scrapers to compare rooms against whole properties.

### Integrations

Send results straight into the tools you already use: **Google Sheets**, **Slack**, **Zapier**, **Make**, **Airtable** or any **Webhook**. You can also **schedule** the Actor to run hourly, daily or weekly and have each run append to the same dataset, which is how you build a price or availability history rather than a one-off snapshot.

### API usage

Run the Actor and collect results from any language. Replace `<YOUR_TOKEN>` with your Apify API token.

**cURL**

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/logiover~spareroom-uk-room-rental-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchAreas": ["london", "manchester"], "maxPagesPerSearch": 30, "maxItems": 1000}'
```

**Node.js**

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('logiover/spareroom-uk-room-rental-scraper').call({"searchAreas": ["london", "manchester"], "maxPagesPerSearch": 30, "maxItems": 1000});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);
```

**Python**

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient('<YOUR_TOKEN>')
run = client.actor('logiover/spareroom-uk-room-rental-scraper').call(run_input={"searchAreas": ["london", "manchester"], "maxPagesPerSearch": 30, "maxItems": 1000})
for item in client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).iterate_items():
    print(item)
```

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

This Actor is available through the Apify MCP server, so an AI agent can call it as a tool. Point your agent at `https://mcp.apify.com` and it can run the SpareRoom Scraper on demand — for example: *"Pull the first 500 listings from SpareRoom and summarise the price distribution."* The agent receives the same structured rows you would get from the UI.

### FAQ

#### Do I need a SpareRoom account or API key?

No. The Actor reads publicly available pages only. There is nothing to authenticate and no credentials to rotate.

#### How many listings can I get in one run?

As many as the search exposes. Raise **Max pages per search** and **Max items** together; the run stops at whichever limit it reaches first.

#### Why did I get fewer rows than I asked for?

The search ran out of listings. That is normal for narrow queries — broaden the search or add more searches to one run.

#### Are results de-duplicated?

Yes. Each listing is emitted once per run, even when it appears on several pages, so you are never billed twice for the same record.

#### Why are some fields empty?

SpareRoom does not publish every attribute for every listing. Empty means the source did not show it, not that extraction failed.

#### What export formats are supported?

JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML and RSS from the **Output** tab, plus the Apify API and any integration you connect.

#### How fast is it?

It is pure HTTP with no browser, so a page of results typically takes a second or two. Raise **Max concurrency** carefully — the source rate-limits aggressive crawling.

#### Can I schedule it?

Yes. Use the Apify scheduler to run it on any interval and append each run to the same dataset for time-series analysis.

#### Does it work behind a proxy?

It uses Apify Proxy automatically. You can switch groups or supply your own proxies in **Proxy configuration**.

#### How often does the data change?

SpareRoom updates continuously. Re-run whenever you need current data; the Actor always reads the live pages, never a cache.

#### Is the output schema stable?

Yes. Field names and types are fixed, so downstream pipelines will not break between runs.

#### What if the site changes its layout?

Open an issue on the **Issues** tab and it gets fixed. The Actor is actively maintained.

### Is it legal?

This Actor reads only publicly available pages on SpareRoom — the same content any visitor sees without logging in. It does not bypass authentication, does not collect private data and does not attempt to defeat access controls. You are responsible for how you use the output: respect the source's terms of service, applicable copyright, and data-protection law such as GDPR where personal data is involved. Scraping public data is generally lawful in the EU and the US, but the responsibility for the downstream use of that data sits with you.

### Related scrapers

- [Rightmove Scraper](https://apify.com/logiover/rightmove-scraper) — UK sales and lettings listings
- [OnTheMarket Scraper](https://apify.com/logiover/onthemarket-scraper) — UK property portal listings
- [Gumtree Scraper](https://apify.com/logiover/gumtree-scraper) — UK classifieds including rentals
- [WG-Gesucht Scraper](https://apify.com/logiover/wg-gesucht-scraper) — German flatshare listings

# Actor input Schema

## `searchAreas` (type: `array`):

UK areas to search, e.g. london, manchester, bristol. Use the slug that appears in the SpareRoom URL.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

SpareRoom search URLs to crawl instead of, or in addition to, the areas above.

## `maxPagesPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

How many result pages to walk for each search. Set 0 for no limit.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many listings. Set 0 for no limit.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. Lower this if the site rate-limits you.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy used to fetch pages. Defaults to Apify Proxy (automatic). You usually do not need to change this.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchAreas": [
    "london"
  ],
  "startUrls": [],
  "maxPagesPerSearch": 10,
  "maxItems": 500,
  "maxConcurrency": 3,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All listings extracted in this run.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchAreas": [
        "london"
    ],
    "maxPagesPerSearch": 10,
    "maxItems": 500,
    "maxConcurrency": 3
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("logiover/spareroom-uk-room-rental-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchAreas": ["london"],
    "maxPagesPerSearch": 10,
    "maxItems": 500,
    "maxConcurrency": 3,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("logiover/spareroom-uk-room-rental-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchAreas": [
    "london"
  ],
  "maxPagesPerSearch": 10,
  "maxItems": 500,
  "maxConcurrency": 3
}' |
apify call logiover/spareroom-uk-room-rental-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,logiover/spareroom-uk-room-rental-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/x68JoB0qyN48CmQ4F/builds/ek386cNqspycswsTq/openapi.json