Someone is renting a room in a cluttered Canadian basement for $800 a month (PHOTOS)
Toronto’s skyrocketing rents — now averaging at over $2,800 per month in the city — are far beyond the reach of many local residents. As expensive as rentals have become, it’s the cheaper rental situations that sometimes offer the best window into the ridiculousness of Toronto’s housing market.
In the latest example, a recent listing is asking $800 per month to live in a shared basement apartment, where the tenant would have access to just one bedroom in the three-bedroom subterranean unit.
The room being rented in the basement of a bungalow at 3172 Weston Road offers a decent amount of space but is fairly spartan in its furnishings. Cheap plastic storage bins and drawers act as dressers and night tables.
An area shown in the listing appears completely packed as some type of storage space. It may be a cluttered mess, but it appears to offer some prime amenities in a microwave, mini fridge, and… is that a stand-up arcade gaming console?
A photo of the kitchen — which the listing states must be shared with other tenants — is actually not too bad if you can overlook the presence of two trash bins, one of which appears to have a second bag of garbage placed by its side. On a positive note, the gas range and integrated microwave seem to punch above the kitchen’s weight.
Tenants get access to a shared basement laundry room; however, it doesn’t look like the type of space you’d want to spend much time in, with dingy tile finishes and exposed plumbing and ducts.
It may not be a palace, but for $800, this unit could be perfect for someone looking for a low-rent living situation in this increasingly costly city.
And it’s still $200 per month cheaper than the basement apartment that mayoral candidate Brad Bradford rents out to his supposed best friend, Paul.