It's only a brothel if more than one of you is actually working from the place - just sharing a flat to live in doesn't count .

Domination is as much a sexual service as a blowjob - it's not what you're doing as such, the legal definition rests on the reason for you doing it (ie for somebody to get their rocks off) so despite what your friend might think, she's no less a prostitute than the rest of us.

Yes. Although the person who gets in trouble is the one whose name is on the lease - it's not illegal to work in a brothel, just to be responsible for one.

Sorry to revive this, but I want some advice. Neither of us have started offering incalls at the flat yet, but we have officially moved in (well, I'm not there for another few weeks, but legally we have). We are still debating whether one of us needs a separate incall location or not (and if so who it should be, who covers what costs etc). We have also debated arrangements if we decide to both work from the same flat (limiting traffic to the property etc). Both our names and the name of our civvie friend are all signed on the tenancy contract, but we are renting, not homeowners.

So I guess my questions are:
1. How likely is it problems will arise?
Nottingham city centre flat, two other flats on the same floor of the building, haven't met them yet but sounds like it is a young couple on one side and a youngish man on the other side. Also sex noises have been heard from the couple side, so it is quite likely that the young neighbours are pretty chilled out HOWEVER that also has implications that my own sex noises could be heard.
2. What are the likely consequences for the two of us if problems do arise?
3. Are there possible consequences for our civvie friend and if so, what? She has no connection to our activities whatsoever, no organising, no facilitating, no profiting etc, she just lives there.
4. What should we consider if getting a separate incall location?
5. If one is at home and one is elsewhere, which should be where and does it matter? I figure reasons for me to go elsewhere would be I could (if I wanted to) take less sociable hours outside the flat without bothering the housemates, and reasons for her to work elsewhere would be for specialist dungeon equipment, screams of pain might be more noticeable than sexual moans etc, so it could be argued either way.

I think we would both be open to a separate location, but it isn't ideal and we would probably both prefer to work from home. We would also need to consider cost, convenience of travel etc but also things like getting a guarantor (is very tricky as we are students and both relatively new to the trade, working part time since about Easter, so don't necessarily have the financial record to prove that we can pay rent). So working out how high the risk is and putting it against the cost/inconvenience is the real factor here.

It should be noted that Nottingham council has a reputation on the BDSM and swingers scenes as being prudish, so that's an extra concern. However, were we to work from home, we have agreed special measures on discretion, so is hopefully unlikely that anything could be noticed, especially since we are students, so can probably be expected to have company and sex a fair amount.

Our contract does not have a clause about running a business (asked for it to be removed with an alibi), so one of us here should be okay, but it does have a clause about "immoral or illegal behaviour" which is vague but ominous, as even legal sex work with only one of us working there might be classed as "immoral" by some.

We are almost certainly looking at getting another location, though, to avoid a legal headache.

Any help?

@ StawberryFields

If you limit the amount of in-calls then it is likely not to be noticed, on the legal side it is a minefield and should you have a problem it is likely to end in a visit to the court to have the matter settled. This unfortunately could draw attention to yourselves in the local newspapers.

In your favour, the tenancy is in all three names as joint tenants and no one person has control, the civvie friend is not working and will claim that she has no control on what her flat mates get up to. A recent case in London, which hit the headlines involving several raids on flats in Soho, the judge ruled that the girls all using the same flat to work from did so as a co-operative and as such no one person was in control, the flat re opened and the girls carried on working "legally".

If you rent a separate apartment and both use it you will still face the same issues if you both work there. You do not need two girls to be working at the same time to make it a brothel.

Sarah x x x

Quote from: StawberryFields on 08 August 2014, 04:12:35 pm

We are almost certainly looking at getting another location, though, to avoid a legal headache.

You wont be avoiding a legal headache, you will just be giving it another address. 

No, one of us would work from each location, one at home, the other away, therefore not violating anything! Just working out who works where....

I have just moved apartment. I did share the last two with different escort friends respectively and I was always on edge a little bit "just in case" . We were due to move into a new one on monday and on sunday morning she let me down saying she has decided that she does not want the responsibility of a tenancy for 6 months and is just going to tour instead. I felt extremely let down and was very upset. Saying that though as I walked around my apartment after signing the agreement I couldnt help but feel overwhelmingly happy, Im 100% legal now, you can't beat that feeling.

Its nice to rent with someone for safety sake and for company but dont rely on them. Save like crazy as if  you have to move out for any reason they  may  not want to share again and you dont want to have the worry of having to move out with no where to go if you dont have the money to rent somewhere alone. 

Still a brothel if she uses it before you move in, sorry.