Vancouver rents: $1,450 a month for a loft bed in a living room shared with 1 woman, 3 rabbits
Finding herself unable to afford her rent, a Vancouver woman was desperate to stay in her suite – so she crammed into the corner of her living room and posted an ad looking for a roommate to share the small space with her and her three rabbits.
For $1,450 a month, the post says the prospective renter will be sharing a high-ceilinged, two-level, open-concept unit in the heart of Vancouver's Granville Entertainment District. In total, the apartment is 850 square feet.
"Your loft bed is located directly beside the 22-foot windows. It’s a breath of fresh air in the heart of the shopping district," it reads.
Nikitha Lalli told CTV News she feels deeply uncomfortable about opening the home she's lived in for two years to a stranger and renting what amounts to "airspace," but a recent loss of some of her income put her in what she describes as an impossible position.
"I'm not able to pay my own rent," she said, adding it's significantly more than $2,000 a month.
"I live in a loft apartment, so it doesn't even have a bedroom door."
'SHOCKING WHAT IT TAKES TO SURVIVE IN THIS CITY'
Even if she wanted to move, she says she couldn't find anywhere to go. She says a unit in her building, with the exact same layout as the one she lives in is renting for $1,000 per month more than what she is paying.
"The housing prices are ridiculously high at the moment," she said.
"It’s just absolutely shocking what it takes to survive in this city."
This photo from a Craigslist ad shows two of the bunnies that live in an apartment where a loft bed in the living room is being advertised for $1,450 per month.
Lalli says she's received many responses from people willing to sleep in a single bed perched above the sectional sofa.
"They're saying they love bunnies, they want to live downtown and they'd be willing to take anything."
In Canada's most expensive rental market, where the vacancy rate remains stubbornly low, arrangements like these are relatively common – with single beds squeezed into small spaces in downtown units with sky-high rents by people looking to share the burden. Lalli says she has a "ton" of friends in situations similar to hers.
'NOTHING AVAILABLE AT AN AFFORDABLE RATE'
Robert Patterson with the Tenant Resource Advisory Council has told CTV News that posts like these just show how desperate people have become to find ways to defray the cost of shelter.
"There's simply nothing available at an affordable rate in their community, that's why people will turn to something like this," he says.
"People who are splitting rental units in all these ways, it's often because they can't afford the rents they have to pay. People, because they can't find anything affordable, they'll take something that's unaffordable and hope and try the best they can to get other people to split the cost with them."
Still, with the average price of a studio hovering just above $2,000 a month, the cost of this rental is relatively affordable. But affordable, when it comes to housing, has a specific meaning.
"In Canada, housing is considered 'affordable' if it costs less than 30 per cent of a household’s before-tax income," Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation explains on its website.
Using that metric, this loft bed would be affordable to someone making $58,000 a year. People on income or disability assistance are allowed a maximum of $375 to spend on shelter each month – a rate that has not changed since 2007.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Security guard shot, seriously injured outside of Drake's Toronto mansion
A security guard working at Drake’s Bridle Path mansion in Toronto was seriously injured in a shooting outside the residence early Tuesday morning, police said.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Your body needs these three forms of movement every week
Movement is movement, right? Not exactly. Here’s what your body is looking for in addition to your morning walk or yoga session, according to experts.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Quebec to limit sperm donations per donor after 3 men from same family father hundreds of children
Quebec is looking at tightening the regulations around sperm donation in the province following the release of a documentary that revealed three men from the same family fathered hundreds of children.
How to overcome 'savings guilt' when you're living paycheque to paycheque
As the higher cost of living continues to squeeze household budgets, many Canadians find they have even less left over at the end of every month to squirrel away for the future.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.