Is this really the ‘smallest apartment in Paris’?

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 let, or where tenants don’t get a proper contract.

It’s not made clear what type of contract the tenant has.

Is there a legal minimum apartment size?

Yes, in France any dwelling must have at least 12 square metres of habitable space. That means space with enough headroom to stand, since many chambres de bonnes have sloping roofs that limit the amount of usable space.

It must also have a separate toilet area and space for cooking and washing, and it must have at least one window and must be in good condition. Although clearly very small, this apartment appears to be in a good state with relatively new appliances and furnishings. It also has plenty of natural light and a nice balcony space – there are worse places in Paris!

READ ALSO: Renting property in France: Know your rights as a tenant✎

Why is the Paris housing market so crazy?

So how did we get to a situation where someone is paying €600 a month for such a small space?

Quite simply, demand far outstrips supply in Paris, making tenants willing to put up with almost anything to get a roof over their heads – including accepting rentals that are legally too small.

Although this type of housing shortage is common in European capitals, there are several other factors that make the situation worse; Paris has a large number of second homes (roughly 10 percent of apartments are used as second homes, up to 30 percent in the historic central arrondissements.

It also has a high number of vacant housing units, plus a significant number of apartments used for tourists via rental platforms such as Airbnb.

The city’s newly elected mayor, Emmanuel Grégoire, has made housing one of the major themes of his programme, with plans including a crackdown on Airbnb rentals and increasing taxes on second homes and empty homes in an attempt to bring more housing stock back onto the market for local people.

In the meantime, this man is almost certainly not the only one paying hundreds of euros a month for a tiny apartment.

Have you seen a smaller apartment in Paris? Perhaps you have lived in a chambre de bonne – share your experiences in the comments section below