The Bedrooms

Bedrooms must meet minimum space requirements for the number of individuals who regularly sleep in the room. The space requirement is 70 square feet for the first person and 50 square feet for each additional person. Limited closet space that is dedicated to that bedroom can be used to count towards the total bedroom space requirement. Children who are living with their parents count towards the space requirement.

Bedrooms should ideally have two or fewer occupants. No bedroom may have more than six residents.  For bedrooms with three to six residents, the home must have identified strategies to ensure that the bedroom is as homelike as possible. This can include ensuring residents can rearrange the furniture and decorate their personal space to suit their preferences and privacy screens are available.

Bedrooms should be appropriately furnished so each occupant has a bed, a place to store folded clothes, and a place to store clothes on hangers. The bedroom must have a functioning egress. (Operators should check local building codes on what meets local requirements for an appropriate egress.) Each bedroom must have a smoke detector. Having a smoke detector outside the bedroom in the hallway is not sufficient.

Bedrooms should have an appropriate door to allow for resident privacy. (Curtains and sheets should not be used to create doors). Acceptable doors include standard doors, pocket doors, accordion doors, barn-style sliding doors and other similar types of doors.

Residents should not need to walk through a bedroom to access common areas of the property. For example, residents should not need to walk through another resident’s bedroom to use the home’s only bathroom or to use the only kitchen in the house.

Bedrooms should not have appliances in them that are more appropriate for the kitchen, such as mini-fridges, coffee pots, hot places and other devices. Allowances are permitted for apartment buildings with studio apartments or dorm-style buildings.