The only reason they are renting them furnished is that "normal" furniture probably won't fit.

As someone who rents out places for a living, having your potential tenant's furniture fit is half the problem.

And, like others have said...furnishing a place does not cost a lot. B/w craigslist, ikea, etc...you can furnish an apartment for super cheap.

Like Lomac said, the concept is interesting and I like it in theory, but there is just something that doesn't seem right about it.

I think if it suits your need, then go for it.

Its new, close to downtown and if it suits your lifestyle, then this isn't so bad. Sure the price is a bit high, but you're living in DT Vancouver! We'll see how well these do.

That's life. Many people commute to Vancouver daily. You can rent a one bedroom in Surrey for $500 everything in or you can spend $850 for a tiny bachelor suite in van.

$850 a month and 250 sf units equals $3.40 per s/f. That is absolutely ridiculous, and just shows how out to lunch Vancouver's housing market is right now.

Yes these people who rent the units probably cannot afford a larger place which will lower their price per s/f, but they are getting the short end of the stick on this deal.

i read somewhere that for sustainable living in vancouver .. we must earn $18.50/h

Hilarious, that's my friend Andrea who is interviewed in the clip. She's been there for several months. She really likes it there, and it's all the space she needs.

For a brand new apartment and a simple lifestyle, I don't see a problem.

CTV did a story on this yesterday, haha I went to school with the resident they interviewed. photo gallery of a suite here, CTV British Columbia - Questionable price tag for tiny Vancouver rentals - News Photo Gallery thats a tiny washroom


They say its about size of maybe 2 parking stalls, maybe a bit more, $850 a month sounds about right for 2 parking stalls lol, considering the monthly parking at my office building is $350 to $400 a month.

The thing I don't understand, if you absolutely need to be living downtown, why not just go the roommate route, you can rent a 2 bedroom in Yaletown for $900-$1100 a person, not that much more than $850 in these tiny suites, even cheaper in the West End. I suppose some people rather live in a tiny confined space than with a roommate.

I think people who rent this kind of place underestimate the psychological strain that small place puts on people.

There is a reason why Claustrophobia exists. Being confined in a small place that simply isn't designed for human is bad for your mental health.

I wouldn't live in one even if they pay me 1000 a month.

I'm paying 380EUR/mo for 23sq/meters.

Thats $511CAD for 250sq feet. In a tiny town in Bavaria Germany. And I got a good deal. Average apts. like this go for 500-600eur a month.

That's actually not bad after watching the video... you don't really need THAT much more than that. People here in Germany and in Japan have been living like this fro a long time.

I think the idea is pretty good. it help people saving up for down payment for their first place. I paid appox $600 15 years ago when i first move out for a studio unit less then 500 sq/ft in downtown. 850/month sounds about right today
and these day in downtown a newer apartment goes for $1200/month and up for a single bedroom and above 2K for a 2 bedroom unit. you can probably find something a bit cheaper in westend if the unit is older than 20 years

I think this is a great idea. A lot of posters in this thread seems to be missing some key points:

1. You cannot compare suburban rental prices/space with downtown rental prices/space, you're comparing apples to oranges. If you like big and cheap, there's the suburbs.

2. These suites are fully furnished, that alone will add a few hundred bucks to any rental.

3. THESE UNITS ARE NOT FOR LOW INCOME PEOPLE, there is a separate housing program for that. These are for working class people who want to live near where they work at an affordable price. There are a lot of people who work in the DT area who want to live there but don't have $400,000+ to buy their own place. There is clearly a niche for these kinds of apartments and its a win/win for everyone involved, I don't get why there is so much hostility in this thread.

I hope they allow deep fryer's on the balcony, because that's the only way these guys/gals are going to have a turkey dinner.

Swanson's doesn't count.

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Yeah, there are some individuals that like to live alone rather than have a roommate. It's understandable.


Jesus....that shower stall looks like a gym shower stall. That sucks.

I dig what they are doing in theory...

It is nice to see developers/city starting to focus on the "middle class". It always seems to be about low-income housing or super pricey developments DT.

I just don't like how people like me only have the choice of living in the suburbs or in a small (although really nice) converted single occupancy "hotel" in a shit-ass neighbourhood. WHy do I have to be either super poor or super rich to live in a decent condo DT?

The size of that suite is a bit bigger than standard hotel rooms I think.

Its pretty good for people who don't need to have 55inch LCD w/ surround sound speakers, 6 stoves, an oven and dishwasher etc etc.

If people think they're expensive, they're not going to rent it. Obviously, some people think its worth it. No one is pointing a gun at tenants to force them to rent it.

It's not that bad compare to a bunch of 1br/2br suites shared by a bunch of people. Plenty of those on craigslist. At least you have privacy with these converted rooms.

Do what HK does seriously build a bunch of apartments with maybe 200 to 300sq feet each and let the low income single perosn live there.

Look I am sorry but if you are poor and needs the gov help, you really have no right to complain about person space. Lots of ppl in HK are doing this coz they are poor. They live in housing with only enough space for a bed, washroom, kitchen and living room reaall share between the 8 to 12 ppl shared.

I don't get why everybody can't drive Ferrari's? :confused:

like what other people above said, no one is pointing a gun at your to rent this place.

$850 for a 200sq ft is small, but hey, some people would prefers a smaller place to live that he/she can walk to work than a large barn out in Chilliwack.

me and my fiance live in a 460sq ft place in HK, current market rent is around $1200-1500cdn, 3 minutes walk to subway and 10 minutes to where I work. We save at least $500 together from taxi money. Are we happy? hell yeah. It sucks to take an hour stuck in traffic every morning and evening.

HK public housing is a fail public policy in general.
Rent for HK public housing is around $200cdn per month, which is around 1/5 of an average salary of a low income family ($1000cdn per month). It is very reasonable and sometimes they get exempted to pay rent twice a year.

If a Honger makes let's say $1200, then you are not entitled to apply public housing, you will have to pay pretty much your whole damn salary on rent. $1200 for a 400 sq ft for example.

What's the impact? The policy is not encouraging people to make more income. Hongers always hear university graduates prefer to keep a mininum paid job in order to apply public housing, which is fucked up.

If you read about the Singapore and China housing policy, I would say they are fucking genius. No foreign investment in local property to keep the overall price as low as possible. Why can't our govn't do the fucking right thing for us :yuno:?

Two low income people?

Come on.

If the rent includes management fee and heat, then $850 is not too bad.
My buddy is living in a dirty old 350sq ft basement in burnaby by himself and he's paying $650 cash with no furniture, no microwave, no internet, no fridge, and of course no TV. Walking to the nearest skytrain is around 20 minutes.

5$ says half the people in here saying they wouldnt live there, still live with their parents
haha

Its economical for people to still live with parents here. Housing are just too unaffordable for our generation...

Why do people still want to come to live in Vancouver? For $850 a month you can find a world class city to live in.

I wish.... it would be easier to purchse your own house. I wouldn't say the price will go down by 50% or more but I do see a 15 to 25% price drop.