Someone in Toronto is renting out a cot in the corner of a shared bedroom for $700
Remember the days when you could secure a bachelor unit or private room in a shared Toronto apartment for under $1,000 per month, and in a central part of the city, too?
Well, those days are apparently far behind us despite being not all that long ago, as the housing crisis continues to push Toronto landlords and renters to new lows (and prices to new highs).
Having to share a bedroom or even share a bed with strangers is the new trend in the GTA's rental market, with homeowners struggling to cover outrageous mortgage payments on overpriced homes, and tenants scrambling to find a spot within a reasonable budget.
Some people have resorted to building makeshift rooms or dividing single bedrooms with flimsy partitians to get more bang for their buck, and desperate renters have snapped up even the most pitiful of living spaces for the right price.
The landlord behind one bleak new listing has employed this tactic of divvying up a room to be able to cram more renters in one unit, but though it is usually international students who are the target of these shared, dorm-like accommodations, this ad bans students altogether.
"Master bedroom half to be shared by working male professional," the Kijiji entry reads, showing a photo of a bedroom split with a thin folding screen that only goes partway across the room.
"Clean non-smoker non-drinking male professional required. Long-term only. No students."
Along with this strict list of requirements, the roommate will have to pay a non-negotiable $690 per month for half the room in the one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, which on one side features only a tiny cot no bigger than a single bed and some plastic organizer drawers as furnishings.
Even worse is the fact that the home isn't anywhere near the downtown core, but is off of Wynford Drive in Flemingdon Park, about an hour away from central Toronto by transit via two subway lines, a bus, and walking.
The apartment itself isn't anything to write home about, either, and there's no balcony, parking, internet or other perks included to make the rental more worth it. (The aging building does have a gym and a pool, though, and utilities are included in the price.)
Sadly, the spot isn't even close to the crappiest apartment listing we've seen in recent months, and its price means that someone will likely take the landlord up on the offer to share the room given that rents in the city are up a double-digit percentage from last year, hovering around $2,620 for a one-bedroom, and $1,302 for a single bedroom in a shared flat.
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