How many people can live in a 1BR?

[uptown_urbanist]

I know this was resolved, but FWIW, when we looked for a 2-BR in NYC we had to do a lot of filtering to make sure that the landlord's description of a 2-BR and our vision of a 2-BR were the same! I expected two separate sleeping rooms AND a living room; a lot of the NYC "two bedrooms" were only two bedrooms if you went without the living room. Or, in more spacious places, had a living room large enough to have a sleeping area carved out of it. And the OP's place sounds big enough for that. In any case, while I know there are official laws about all of this, from an informal standpoint the reality is that things are different in New York.

[Sally_Sparrow]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

I know this was resolved, but FWIW, when we looked for a 2-BR in NYC we had to do a lot of filtering to make sure that the landlord's description of a 2-BR and our vision of a 2-BR were the same! I expected two separate sleeping rooms AND a living room; a lot of the NYC "two bedrooms" were only two bedrooms if you went without the living room. Or, in more spacious places, had a living room large enough to have a sleeping area carved out of it. And the OP's place sounds big enough for that. In any case, while I know there are official laws about all of this, from an informal standpoint the reality is that things are different in New York.

I've seen that here, too, in Texas. My current building has an upstairs attic conversion and they are calling it a three bedroom. It's really not. Sure, someone creative could turn the extra "area" they are referring to into a bedroom with curtains or folding screens or whatever but it is not a "bedroom" by most people's standards.

Sometimes it works in the renter's favor though, when there is a 3 bedroom with a study or alcove or sunroom or formal dining, or whatever, that works easily as a "four bedroom" but isn't advertised as such and neither is the rent higher as a result. With permission of course.

From what I have been seeing in my current apartment search, reading various policies for complexes, often the rule is 2 people per bedroom plus one. So a 3 bedroom could have 7 people. That's not the law or anything, just official occupancy policies published by various apartment complexes. City code is what seems to determine the legal max based on square footage per person, here at least.

[Curious New Yorker]

When in Rome do as the Romans.

Regardless of a persons origin or customs there are codes and rules that are applied to everyone. Rule of thumb is maximum 2 people per bedroom. A kitchen and bathroom do NOT figure as spaces where people can sleep. In public housing aka NYCHA or "the projects", children over the age of 4 are not allowed in 1-bedroom apartments and the rule is universal for law abiding property owners. Children of different gender over the age of 7 are not allowed to share the same bedroom (particularly if they are in the system).

As of March 9th, 2015 the City of New York introduced a NEW form to report illegal apartment conversions (spliting 1-bedroom into 2-bedroom) and overcrowding. The expectation of emergency services of a building listed as 100 1-bedroom apartment is a maximum occupancy of 200 people. Mixed occupancy of buildings housing disabled, senior, young children and adults with crowded rooms, furniture blocking windows, over-sized window guards, 75plus old wooden structures are a dangerous situation.

Depending on the property owner/landlord as well as neighbors play into the right and wrong. A tenant angry with the landlord will report the landlord and tenants that fail to meet the standard of existing codes. A tenant taking a tenant for excessive noise, cigarette smoking (Clean Air Act) or overcrowding will get the offender evicted and paying financial restitution.

Private homes are the best and worst of both worlds. A 1 or 2 family has the least restrictions but many of the over 6 family building rules apply.