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Tiny den for $1,000/month, and more Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­rental gems

It was not many years ago that a budget of $800-$1,000 a month would rent you a perfectly good one-bed apartment in Vancouver. But no longer.
Joannah Connolly
coal harbour single room $1000
If you want to live in a chi-chi Coal Harbour building, $1,000 a month would rent you this tiny bedroom. Image via Craigslist

It was not many years ago that a budget of $800-$1,000 a month would rent you a perfectly good one-bed apartment in Vancouver. But no longer.

With Vancouver’s rental crisis escalating and vacancy rates alarmingly low, that same budget now will often only get you a small room in a shared apartment – and recent headlines have revealed how cramped/dark/dismal some of them seem (CTV’s story , and the Richmond News’ ).

So the Courier decided to check out some more room-to-rent “gems” available in Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­right now. (In fairness, we found many much nicer-looking options, at the same price as the ones listed below.)

Here’s our pick of five doozies on Craigslist and Padmapper.

coal harbour single room $1000
If you want to live in a chi-chi Coal Harbour building, $1,000 a month would rent you this tiny bedroom. Image via Craigslist

This “private, furnished room” – clearly a tiny single bedroom with a twin mattress – is going for the princely sum of $1,000 a month. It is in a Coal Harbour apartment that is shared with two roommates. Still, it is in a great location, and the building has lots of amenities, which are likely the justification for this price tag.

Yaletown solarium composite
There's clearly room for a small desk in this Yaletown solarium, but the bed size remains a mystery. Image via Craigslist

If you don’t have $1,000 but still need to be downtown, this tiny solarium in Yaletown is going for $800 a month. It’s described as a private “big” den, although the images cleverly fail to reveal the width of the bed provided. Only female applicants are considered.

downtown den solo traveller
Advertised as ideal for a "solo traveller," this downtown Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­den has no windows. Image via Craigslist

Described as ideal for the “solo traveller,” the occupant of this windowless den in the heart of downtown Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­is nevertheless required to have a student or work visa. However, it is in a pretty fancy building, if that’s important to you.

downtown solarium
This downtown Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­den being advertised for rent is small, but certainly gets a lot of light. Image via Padmapper

If you definitely need a double bed, then for a mere $850 a month, this tiny solarium can be your home. However, don’t expect to be able to fit much else in the room. And with glass walls on three sides, we hope it has good window blinds.

vic 57th basement composite
This room (left) is being advertised for rent as part of a shared basement suite (right). Image via Craigslist

Don’t need to live downtown? You’ll get a bit more space for your buck if you move into this shared basement in South Vancouver, a 45-minute hop and skip to downtown via bus and SkyTrain. And “must be 420-friendly” clearly means you’ll be sharing with stoners, but hey, if that’s your thing...

Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­renters: good luck out there.