Would you pay $700 a month to rent a micro suite? Craigslist ad highlights bleak options
A micro suite in Vancouver is being rented for $700 a month—a steep price considering the space is just 150 square feet.
According to the Vancouver-based rental listing website liv.rent, the average rent per square foot in the city is $3.85, which works out to a monthly rent of $577.50 for a 150-square-foot space.
Utilities are included in the $700 price for the micro suite listed on Craigslist, however.
An advertisement for the room specifies it is “freshly renovated” and comes with access to a shared kitchen and bathrooms on the same floor, but there’s no laundry on site.
A single bed frame and mattress, plus a kitchen sink and mini fridge can be seen in photos of the tiny room posted online.
The advertisement does not include the address, but says the micro suite is in a “secure building with neighbourhood security.”
In an email to CTV News, a spokesperson for the City of Vancouver says micro suites are “intended to encourage the creation of new livable, affordable micro dwelling rental units in the Downtown Eastside and the False Creek Flats areas” and are a minimum of 250 square feet under city guidelines.
“We’re unable to tell whether this particular unit is legal or not, based on the photo and listing information,” the spokesperson said, explaining it depends on whether a business licence is required.
A person needs a business licence if they are sharing three or more rooms in their house, or for whole units, but no licence is needed to rent out two or fewer rooms.
Robert Patterson, a lawyer at the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre, says that legal or not—advertisements for rental units like this micro suite represent troubling times.
“This is not the sign of a healthy rental market,” Patterson said.
CTV News has reached out to the person renting the unit and will update this article if a response is received.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
NEW Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Minister said 'hundreds' of Canadians might use Gaza visa. More than 7,500 applied.
An immigration lawyer in Toronto says new figures from the federal government show just how 'grudging' Ottawa's efforts have been to rescue Canadians' family members from the war in the Gaza Strip.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Florida deputies who fatally shot U.S. airman burst into wrong apartment, attorney says
Deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man's family said Wednesday.
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.