9 square meters for 495 euros in Paris: is it legal to rent so small (and so dear)?

Charlotte has lived for five years in nine square meters in Paris. She pays rent of 495 euros charges included per month. Does this seem expensive to you? And yet …

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Everything that is small is cute. This proverb applies perfectly to the Parisian apartment in Charlotte, nicely furnished and of an area of ​​… Nine square meters. The 27 -year -old woman has lived in this good roomin the heart of the 8th arrondissement. Incredible but true, the toilets are not on the level but in the shower room of the “studio” of Charlotte, she shows in a video broadcast on the raw media. No sink on the other hand, just a handwlave, in which Charlotte also makes dishes because she does not have no kitchen. “The bowls must not be too large, it does not enter the handwasher!”she laughs. To cook, the girl has portable cooking plates and a microwave, that’s all.

The tiny space of her accommodation, Charlotte learned to optimize it: “I sometimes ask me for advice on putting an apartment!” In nine square meters, it obviously does not have a bedroom but a bed on the mezzanine, under the velux. “It quickly becomes Hell in summer,, It’s very hot»»she underlines. To take a “fresh air” bowl, Charlotte rose to the roof of the building, from where she has a “Super view of the Eiffel Tower”. Certainly but we can do better in terms of security …

Nine square meters, the legal minimum to rent

And first, is it legal to rent nine square meters as a residential room? “Yes, renting nine square meters is legal, it is really the minimum authorized, provided that the accommodation also offers 2.20 meters in ceiling»»responds to Capital Dan Adler, founder and CEO of the Ferla real estate agency network, in Paris.

This very small nest, for which she pays A monthly rent of 495 euros I included, Charlotte obtained it when she earned less than 1,000 euros per month, as an alternating. And, despite the narrowness of the premises, she does not resolve to leave him, so much finding a rental in Paris is the obstacle course. Especially when you work in freelance: “I have never had a stable job, with a permanent contract”underlines the young woman.

Housing lease or Civil Code lease

All the same, almost 500 euros of rent for nine square meters, or 55 euros per square meter, it seems a lot. Especially opposite the median rent (excluding charges, however) in Paris, which is established at 25.7 euros per square meteraccording to the Observatory of rents. “It may seem expensive, but several things come into play. If it is a conventional housing lease, there is a Rent supervision In Paris, therefore the amount per square meter must not exceed a ceiling, unless this is justified by a clear view or rare services, which must be clearly mentioned in the lease “explains Dan Adler.

On the other hand, in the case of a Civil code leasemuch more flexible than conventional leases, “Concluded for example for a second home, there is No rent ceilingthe owner can therefore freely fix his amount ”continues the real estate agent. And add: “We cannot compare all the service rooms between them: a room on the sixth floor without elevator, with a poorly maintained service staircase, it is not at all the same thing as a room in a condominium with lift, common areas redone, and a real clear view. These details can justify a large price differencefor the same surface. “ Charlotte admits that she could find larger and cheaper by crossing the device. But “The suburbs, I know, I prefer to be in the middle of the 8th, at the foot of the metro”.