Dividing a house into rooms that can be rented cheaply is a familiar practice in Scarborough, North York, East York and most of Etobicoke — all places where it’s illegal.

Since amalgamation, there has been no legal way for people in those parts of Toronto to live in inspected, multi-tenant housing, as they can in other parts of Toronto.

And yet advocates for tenants call this kind of housing “crucial” in a city where rents are unaffordable for many.