It is not uncommon for prospective tenants looking for affordable options in Vancouver to come across ads in which someone in search of a roommate has crammed a single bed into a windowless den in the city center. But are these arrangements legal?
In the last example, a small space is advertised on Craigslist for $ 650 a month.
“(A) a very private space with a privacy door and a curtain,” the list said, noting that it was located in a two-bedroom apartment in a high-rise building in Yaletown, which will be shared with two others.
Although there may be a door and a curtain, only one of them can be closed, because the mattress that dominates the space – despite its small size – leaves no room to close the door.
There is no closet or chest of drawers, but there is a narrow, free-standing shelf, along with several others mounted on the walls.
“Good for a student / international student or someone with small luggage who needs a place to sleep,” the ad continued.
No photos of the building were provided, but the ad described it as an upper floor of a “high-end” tower with a pool, sauna, steam bath, gym and activity room. The ad also says that current tenants are looking for someone who is quiet, clean, respectful, without pets, who does not drink or smoke and will not bring home visitors.
HOW IS THIS LEGAL?
Although renting miniature excavations like these may seem like a violation of the regulations, one expert says that these arrangements are in fact legal.
Robert Patterson, a lawyer with the Tenants’ Advisory Council, says situations where someone is looking for a roommate are not limited by provincial law.
“Who uses what kind of bedroom or what you have – no matter how it is arranged – is not in violation of the Housing Rent Act. Unless there are so many people in the apartment that it becomes an unreasonable number, then the landlord has the right to terminate the rent for that, ”he explains.
As for municipal bylaws that define things like building and fire codes, Patterson says they apply to developers or homeowners who are trying to get approval to build new apartments, and he is not aware of any be any restrictions on how the space can be used once built and rented.
“Generally speaking, if I’m someone who lives in a rented apartment and brings in roommates, I’m allowed to do so,” he said.
While Patterson says there are examples of landlords “aggressively dividing units into aggressively small, small spaces” as a way to “profit” from the housing affordability crisis, he says lists like these illustrate a very different problem.
Both the people who advertise these spaces and the people who may be considering renting them, Patterson says, are moving into the rental market, where the average studio rents $ 2,000 a month and the vacancy rate remains stubbornly low.
“There’s just nothing affordable in their community, so people will turn to something like that,” he said.
“People who divide rental housing in all these ways are often because they can’t afford the rent they have to pay. People, because they can’t find anything available, they will take something that is impossible and they will hope and try their best to get other people to share the costs with them. “
While accommodation sharing is an option that many people are looking for to share the burden of incredible rents, Patterson points out that it also comes with a built-in level of risk.
“Every time you get in touch with a roommate, you open up to potential responsibility to each other for things that could go wrong,” he says.
“It just shows that people are so desperate for housing, so desperate and unable to pay their own rent, that people on both sides of this equation are willing to take that risk.”
CTV News Vancouver turned to the billboard to get more information about this rental, but received no response.
DESPAIR, PROBABLY MOVING THESE ADS: EXPERT
While the central location and amenities promised in the Craigslist ad may entice some tenants to compromise on space and privacy, Patterson says the rent illustrates one of the biggest drivers of the housing crisis.
“If someone is seriously considering this small $ 650 room, they won’t be able to afford the luxury supply units, which are the only things that come on the market, the only things that are built in reasonable quantities,” he says.
Significant investment in cooperative affordable and non-market options is, according to Patterson, the only strategy that will successfully reduce prices in the most expensive market in Canada.
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