Tour of Vancouver $950 DTES SRO shows rat-infested conditions (VIDEO)
Vancouver rent continues to be excruciatingly expensive for most folks. Amidst an expensive rental landscape, single-room occupancy units (SROs) in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) offer a more affordable option – but at a different cost.
It’s an open secret that SROs in Vancouver are often unsafe and poorly managed. Now, a recent tour of the Brandiz SRO on Hastings Street shared on social media provides a look at how some of the city’s most marginalized are living.
As of December 2022, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver is around $2,227. According to a YouTube video posted in November, an SRO in the Brandiz Hotel costs $950 to rent. The creator confirmed to Daily Hive the amount of rent and shared an image of a receipt.
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When Daily Hive Urbanized reached out to Brandiz Hotel to inquire about the price of units, the operators hung up the phone.
In the video, rats are running from the ceiling as the creator films their room tour. Take a look:
In the video, the creator takes you up the stairs to their unit and shows how they live in a small space. The building has shared laundry and bathroom facilities, with separate rooms for toilets and showers.
“I lived here for a few months after the building I was renting in caught fire,” wrote the creator on YouTube.
“This is probably the last example of pure filth in the DTES since the Belmont and regent got shut down.”
What do you think of this SRO?