Rest room: tiny Vancouver ‘micro studio’ combines bedroom and toilet

Being single can be tough. But should you be so despondent about your lack of a partner that you can barely make it from the bed to the bathroom, one Vancouver apartment might be the answer.

An ad for a “micro studio” posted on Craigslist this month described the apartment – which includes new flooring, a window and a single bed, but does not include a kitchen – as “ideal for a single individual looking to live downtown at an affordable rate, and who does not need much space”.

The 160-square-foot (15 sq metre) apartment’s layout means there is little differentiation between the toilet and the bedroom – they are a few steps apart, and in direct line of sight, without a door. All this for just C$680 (US$550) a month, hot water and electricity included.

Pets are not allowed.

Vancouver is the seventh most expensive housing market in the world, according to a 2020 survey by commercial real estate firm CBRE, ahead of Los Angeles, Paris and New York. This year, a study by the Urban Reform Institute named Vancouver the second most unaffordable city of 100 major metropolises, behind Hong Kong and just ahead of Sydney. The coronavirus pandemic meant Vancouver housing prices rose by 20-25% in a year, the Vancouver Sun reports.

Still, the micro apartment’s rent is more than half the city’s average of C$1,107 (US$900).

The listing was removed after a few days, but not before being picked up by the website Vancouver is Awesome, which points out the apartment’s size is smaller than the City of Vancouver’s 250-square-foot (23 sq metre) definition of a micro dwelling.

The city’s guidelines are also particular about bathrooms, indicating they should be “physically separated from the remainder of the unit by partitions and a door to ensure privacy and to isolate noise and odours”.

Last year, a Sydney apartment was ridiculed for its similarly open-minded approach. The bathroom of the US$1,200 a month unit featured a toilet and shower located in the kitchen. But at least they were separated by glass.

Then again, too much space can be a bad thing. In March this year, a New York woman discovered an entire three-bedroom apartment behind her mirror after trying to determine the source of a mysterious draft in her bathroom.