These Parisians live in 5 m2 (54 sq ft). Real-estate in Paris is nuts.

Well that’s depressing. All those empty apartments are a crime. That’s why so many cities are banning Airbnb. It’s completely upsetting the housing market so locals can’t find places to live.

I lived two years in Paris, in 9 m2, but my window showed me the roofs, Notre Dame and so on. I had a shower and warm water. I went to work on feet, crossing the Seine and walking on the parvis from Notre Dame. A good time.....

It’s horrible to see people forced to live in such tiny spaces and equally horrible to see there are people happy to make money from them.

A brutal reminder to be grateful for what you have 😢

When I was a student in Paris, I was living in a ‘nun’s room’. I was paying for the room by giving tuition to the owner’s children. I didn’t care one bit about the small space, I was a student. I could access the owner’s washing machine to clean my clothes. Best ever option for a student.

A Van is more comfortable

It is horrible to not just see people are forced to live like this, but also that sentient chickens are treated so violently! This is the dark side of humanity....

Wait... there's no shared bathroom down the hall? Here in NYC we have some cheap apartments in boarding houses that are just a single small room, but they have a shared toilet and shower on every floor, people aren't bathing with bottled water next to the bed. That's really insane. I'm pretty sure even those coffin apartment in Hong Kong have a shared bathroom.

This is making me feel like my 51m2, 2 BRM place is a mansion.

I was lucky when I was a student. My home was tiny, though certainly not 5m², but using second-hand furniture, my dad created lots of built-in cupboards and drawers. I had a huge amount of storage for very little cost. People say that you need to live minimalistically to cope in small spaces, but the secret is to have plenty of storage and furniture that does double duty. After college, I upgraded to 20m² and followed the same plan. I lived there for 35 years until I inherited a two bedroomed house. Sometimes, I would like to downsize, but I enjoy having a garden and a large bathroom.

A lovely friend of mine invited me to stay with her in Paris a few years ago around Christmas, she lived on the Boulevard St. Michel, I thought, what a great location. What she didn't say was that she and her sister lived in one of these chambres de bonne, it was a terrible holiday, no privacy, no washing facilities, low ceiling, communal toilet, it was really awful. I had to wash myself in pieces in the sink also used to prepare food. These places might be OK for a minimalist person who has access to shower facilities elsewhere (my friend had her grandma living a few doors along, I didn't). It ruined my holiday, and it rained every day. It's so hard when you're poor because when I look at the price of hotels or b&b, I simply can't afford them so I have to stay at home and be an armchair traveller. I'm still grateful for those people who film great locations and post them online.

So they can stop paying rent. The landlord won’t find them a new place (that seems a bit much anyway) so the landlord loses the right to rent the apartment. But what happens to the tenant? Do they have to leave and the apartment is vacant? Where do the tenants go?

In Denmark you can't rent out rooms that doesn't have around the clock access to, hot and cold running water, heat, toilet, bath and kitchen (kitchen have to contain a stove, oven and sink with running water, there have to be room for a fridge too. Before there were residency requirement inside the city limit, except hotels and the like. It should had continued with that. Now a normal house cost a fortune because companies are buying houses just to rent out as vacation/airb&b houses.

I ‘m French and I have a friend who lived in a « chambre de bonne » ( maid bedroom) with the toilets on the hall for all the residents at the floor, when she was at uni. It’s quite « normal » for students. But in fact it’s not normal. Nobody should have to live like that. Everybody deserve to live in a decent home.

Thank you! More people need to hear about this. 5 sq m of living space is inhumane.

It’s forbidden in France to rent a 5m2 place…. 9m2 minimum is mandatory (I’m French)! Those who lived in those super tiny spaces are exploited people (who can’t find of afford any other place) by slum landlords

I lived in 12 square meter when I was at medical school. It was okay back then, but it was only possible because I could store my belongings at my parents house. It must be depressing when you don’t know if you can ever move to a better place

I fear that Berlin is moving in this direction. We have no such thing as chambres de bonne, but I have seen ads where you can rent a bunk bed in a room with three other people. Back to the 1920s…

My French apt is 16 square meters with kitchen, washroom, 2 closets...yes, it's small

6 square meters I live on a sailboat