VIDEO: Is this really the 'smallest apartment in Paris'?

A viral video shows a very small Paris apartment rented for €600 per month, sparking anger about housing prices. The space includes a bed and kitchen area, with a free-standing shower inside and a toilet outside the apartment. The tenant has a balcony with strong views but must climb over the bed to reach it. The top-floor location suggests a chambre de bonne, former maids’ quarters converted into apartments, often without elevators and with unusual layouts. €600 is relatively low compared with the capital’s average rent of about €40 per square metre, though central neighborhoods typically cost more. The listing appears to come from Leboncoin, where some rentals may be advertised despite legal size limits.

"The video of the tiny apartment, for which the rent is €600 a month, has gone viral, sparking fury and disbelief at the out-of-control prices for housing in Paris. It was posted by Sebastian Hedberg, a Finnish model living in Paris, although he is not the tenant, who is identified only as 'a Swiss man' and who reveals that he pays €600 a month for the seventh floor apartment (no elevator)."

"The video doesn't specify its exact size, but viewers can see that it is small - inside the tiny space is a bed and kitchen area, plus a free-standing shower, although the toilet is outside of the apartment space. The tenant does have a balcony - with excellent views - but has to climb over his bed to access it. So is this typical of the Paris housing market? Although the video doesn't reveal the location, the view from the balcony shows it is in central Paris - likely in the trendy 10th arrondissement."

"Its top-floor position reveals it as a chambre be bonne - the former maids' quarters on the top floor of private houses, which have since been converted into apartments. Most of Paris' historic apartment blocks don't have elevators, making it a stiff climb to the top floor. They are typically very small and many have eccentric arrangements, such as a shower in the kitchen. When it comes to price, €600 a month is pretty cheap by Paris standards."

"The average rent across the capital is €40 per square metre - making an apartment of 15 square metres €600 a month. However, prices vary according to the neighbourhood and would normally be higher in central Paris. The tenant mentions that he found the apartment listed on the Leboncoin website, a buy-and-sell website that is similar to Craigslist. Although it has many perfectly legitimate apartments for rental, it's also a place where places can be advertised that are too small to be legally"

Read at The Local France