Toronto ad for basement cots asking $420 each sparks outrage

This Canadian situation almost makes NYC look quaint. 

A Toronto housing ad incited backlash among woeful real estate shoppers by offering a bleak look into just how bleak the city’s housing situation currently is. 

“1 large fully furnished bedroom with 3 beds available. $420/bed. Available immediately,” reads a viral Facebook ad for the cozy basement living setup. 

The ad, posted by one Zahir Chowdhury to a buy-and-sell Facebook group, was picked up by local news site BlogTO and has since sparked widespread outrage, though the original listing was ultimately deleted. 

The post goes on to detail that the “unit” has a separate entrance from, presumably, the rest of the building, features in-unit laundry and is located “nearby” a convenience store, pharmacy, and a branch of the Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Nova. Plus, utilities and Wi-Fi are “included” in the $420 price — but the situation is still illegal. 

“The maximum number of persons living in a habitable room cannot exceed one person for each nine square meters of habitable room floor area,” state the bylaws of Toronto. Ontario’s capital currently holds the title of Canada’s most-expensive city, where the median one-bedroom rental price of $1,920.

The outrage pile-on against the poster reached a point where “they were literally being threatened,” Facebook user Maggie Mae Taylor — who took the screenshot of the ad which sparked its virality — told BlogTO. “Like, people were saying they were going to attack the house.” 

Other comments, Taylor admitted, were dark but “hilarious,” including one that read “You can have bunk beds and rent to 6 people, sky is the limit.”

“More proof Toronto rent is crazy…This guy tried to rent out a BED for $420???” Q107 Toronto captioned a link to the ad.   

“It’s extremely hard to find a place within a reasonable price. It seems to get worse almost daily,” one internet denizen commented on the post before it was deleted, the Daily Mail reported. “A military barracks and prison cells have better accommodations!”