If you’re thinking about building a laneway house in the City of Vancouver this laneway house guide will help you understand:
For more Vancouverites, a laneway house can mean access to more money or space. The second house or secondary suite built on an existing lot – often in the backyard – mostly overlooks the back lane of the existing house.
Know the extreme outer limits of the laneway house. For the footprint, include within its purview any buildings, carports, or covered porches except eaves. Take into account steps, or any other projections allowed through the by-laws.
To calculate the height of the laneway house, take the help of a bit of geometry. Look at the horizontal datum plane, which is the reference point on which the surface elevations are based and measure it in terms of the average of the surface elevations at the intersections of the setback lines. Do this for the front, rear, and side of the property.
This laneway house guide highlights the fact that Laneway house permissible with a new or existing one-family dwelling or one-family dwelling with a secondary suite. Additionally, the following conditions must be met:
Generally, the width should not be less than 9.8 m or 32.15 feet. However, under special circumstances, you may be approved for a laneway house if it has a width of at least 7.3 m or 23.95 feet on the discretion of the Director of Planning, who will consider massing and the impact on neighbourhood privacy as well as the application Council policies and guidelines before granting the exception.
Yes, if the construction of the house has been approved, it can also have a basement.
This laneway house guide helps us understand that for a site in the RS-3 and RS-3A Districts and the RS-6 District and the sites of more than 16.8m in the RS-5 District, the width of a laneway house and its accessory should be within the guidelines of provided by the District schedule. Simply stated, read the district guidelines.
The laneway house if located on east-west oriented sites needs to be located on the south side. Additionally, laneway houses can only have one storey – or at the most – a partial second storey.
If looking for open balconies, know the restrictions. You also cannot build sun decks or roof decks, be it in a one storey house or on the partial second storey of your house.
For a flat roof, the height is measured to the highest point of the roof and cannot exceed 4.3m. For a gable or hip roof, we include the mean height level between the eaves and the ridge, and it cannot exceed a height of 5.2 m. Leave that tower for Rapunzel; a quaint house that does justice to the budget (and the Council guidelines).
The laneway house guide highlights that a laneway house has to be within 10.7 m of the ultimate rear property line. Plus, it has to have with a width of at least 4.9 m from the family dwelling and 0.9 m from the rear property line. Additionally, you also need to have a distance from each property line, which is equal to at least 10% of the lot width.
In case of a smaller area, consult the Director of Planning who can offer some relaxation with respect to specific restrictions. The Director of Planning can relax the location by 0.6 m from one side property line for interior lots, or 0.6 m from the inside property line for corner lots.
Looking to build one storey with a partial second storey? Ensure that its height does not exceed 6.7 m to the ridge of a gable or hip roof with a minimum pitch of 7:12 (this is the slope of the roof in ratio to the horizontal run of the roof-). Or, for a pitch less than 7:12, it should be 5.8 m to the highest point of the roof.
While we are hovering on the topic of height, let us also put it out there that while one may be interested in a modern Tower of Pisa, stick to the guidelines. It says that if the roof pitch is 7:12, one cannot stray from a 4m intersection of the surface of the roof and the exterior wall surface, measured from the horizontal datum plane. Or, if the pitch is less than 7:12, the walls of the partial second storey must be set back at least 0.6 m from the exterior walls of the floor below.
By regularly referring to this laneway house guide you are able to keep these key factors mind when building the laneway house.
The footprint of your home is very important, and if you haven’t already guessed or are in the middle of tearing your hair out, there are more guidelines in store.
But don’t stress, we are here to make your task easier. The footprint of your house is the perimeter, which generally houses your parking or other accessory arrangements that do not have a residential utility. Your partial second storey should not exceed 60% of the footprint of the house if your minimum roof pitch is 3:12 or 50% of the footprint if it is less than 3:12. Try not to get confused. There is more ahead.
Yes, how can we miss the most important part of the house? What is a laneway house without those quaint little dormers? The rule says that it should be inset at least 0.6 m from the exterior wall of the floor below.
The first thing you need to know is that this is a bigger house, so there are more rules. The laneway house has to be located within 7.9 m of the ultimate rear property line. Plus, it has to be 4.9 m away from the actual dwelling and at least 0.9 m from the ultimate rear property line, which can also be relaxed if the Director of Planning sees appropriate conditions.
Again, don’t bank upon it. The house also has to be built in conformation with the guidelines of the district schedule.
This is straightforward. It should not exceed the lesser of 0.16 multiplied by the site area, or if you are not willing to calculate, then it should just be 83.6 m2. But it is mandatory that a laneway house must have a minimum area of 26 m2 unless guess who steps in? No brownie points if you guessed it. When the Director of Planning considers the design of the laneway house, they may lessen the minimum floor area to 19 m2.
If you have no separate bedrooms, then skip this. But if you are planning to have a bedroom, then the house should have another habitable room that has an area of 16.7 m2 and a minimum dimension of 2.1 m measured between the wall surfaces. The same applies to the bedroom. The dimension remains the same but ensures that the size is a minimum of 8.4 m2. Rooms are where you live out your rainy, sunny, and wintery days. Invest well.
This laneway house guide will help you understand the computation of floor are for a laneway house. This is an exhaustive list, so you’ll need to sit down for it because it is a long list.
We apologise, the previous list was just a sneak peek into what is to come. This is the real deal.
First, let us tackle what we “must” exclude while measuring the floor area:
Now that we have got the “musts” out of the way let’s discuss what we “may” exclude from the measurement-
The private outdoor space can only have an open balcony, sundeck, or roof deck. Or, have a patio located at grade with a minimum size of 3.7 m2 and a minimum dimension of 1.5 m.
If not using a particular end of the property for anything like parking or fire access, ensure that it is permeable and landscaped.
Nobody likes a decrepit house, and it blemishes the entire row of neat houses.
The first thing is to include is a 75 mm wide trim around all doors and windows. What is trim? It’s installed along those beautiful those door and window frames – to add in decoration. It also hides the messy lines that meet the ceilings from the doors and windows.
A laneway house must also include a canopy over the main entry door.
Yes, there are quite a few.
The Director of Planning will supervise every move, and they can see if a certain exemption to a rule or a relaxation is better suited to the house. They can permit certain freedoms if
It is all up to the condition of the place, its individual qualities, and peculiarities, and how things would shape up there. This is not a free pass to ask the Director to give a little leeway. It just means that when the rule cannot be applied to a specific situation, the Director has the liberty to give the go-ahead.
Building a laneway house can seem tricky. It’s important to read through the provisions to not run afoul. Our laneway house guide is intended to help you navigate the complexities of your laneway house project. We’re sure you wish to make an amazing little house, so do your homework, read this not-so-little rulebook and get all your construction knowledge on point.
Your laneway house is something that is not just going to affect you. It will affect your neighbours, your pets, your children, and the community in which you live. If it seems like a daunting task, the team at Silvercrest can help. We are well-equipped to guide you through the process.
Call or email us for your free consultation today!
If you’re thinking about building a laneway house in the City of Vancouver this laneway house guide will help you understand:
For more Vancouverites, a laneway house can mean access to more money or space. The second house or secondary suite built on an existing lot – often in the backyard – mostly overlooks the back lane of the existing house.
Know the extreme outer limits of the laneway house. For the footprint, include within its purview any buildings, carports, or covered porches except eaves. Take into account steps, or any other projections allowed through the by-laws.
To calculate the height of the laneway house, take the help of a bit of geometry. Look at the horizontal datum plane, which is the reference point on which the surface elevations are based and measure it in terms of the average of the surface elevations at the intersections of the setback lines. Do this for the front, rear, and side of the property.
This laneway house guide highlights the fact that Laneway house permissible with a new or existing one-family dwelling or one-family dwelling with a secondary suite. Additionally, the following conditions must be met:
Generally, the width should not be less than 9.8 m or 32.15 feet. However, under special circumstances, you may be approved for a laneway house if it has a width of at least 7.3 m or 23.95 feet on the discretion of the Director of Planning, who will consider massing and the impact on neighbourhood privacy as well as the application Council policies and guidelines before granting the exception.
Yes, if the construction of the house has been approved, it can also have a basement.
This laneway house guide helps us understand that for a site in the RS-3 and RS-3A Districts and the RS-6 District and the sites of more than 16.8m in the RS-5 District, the width of a laneway house and its accessory should be within the guidelines of provided by the District schedule. Simply stated, read the district guidelines.
The laneway house if located on east-west oriented sites needs to be located on the south side. Additionally, laneway houses can only have one storey – or at the most – a partial second storey.
If looking for open balconies, know the restrictions. You also cannot build sun decks or roof decks, be it in a one storey house or on the partial second storey of your house.
For a flat roof, the height is measured to the highest point of the roof and cannot exceed 4.3m. For a gable or hip roof, we include the mean height level between the eaves and the ridge, and it cannot exceed a height of 5.2 m. Leave that tower for Rapunzel; a quaint house that does justice to the budget (and the Council guidelines).
The laneway house guide highlights that a laneway house has to be within 10.7 m of the ultimate rear property line. Plus, it has to have with a width of at least 4.9 m from the family dwelling and 0.9 m from the rear property line. Additionally, you also need to have a distance from each property line, which is equal to at least 10% of the lot width.
In case of a smaller area, consult the Director of Planning who can offer some relaxation with respect to specific restrictions. The Director of Planning can relax the location by 0.6 m from one side property line for interior lots, or 0.6 m from the inside property line for corner lots.
Looking to build one storey with a partial second storey? Ensure that its height does not exceed 6.7 m to the ridge of a gable or hip roof with a minimum pitch of 7:12 (this is the slope of the roof in ratio to the horizontal run of the roof-). Or, for a pitch less than 7:12, it should be 5.8 m to the highest point of the roof.
While we are hovering on the topic of height, let us also put it out there that while one may be interested in a modern Tower of Pisa, stick to the guidelines. It says that if the roof pitch is 7:12, one cannot stray from a 4m intersection of the surface of the roof and the exterior wall surface, measured from the horizontal datum plane. Or, if the pitch is less than 7:12, the walls of the partial second storey must be set back at least 0.6 m from the exterior walls of the floor below.
By regularly referring to this laneway house guide you are able to keep these key factors mind when building the laneway house.
The footprint of your home is very important, and if you haven’t already guessed or are in the middle of tearing your hair out, there are more guidelines in store.
But don’t stress, we are here to make your task easier. The footprint of your house is the perimeter, which generally houses your parking or other accessory arrangements that do not have a residential utility. Your partial second storey should not exceed 60% of the footprint of the house if your minimum roof pitch is 3:12 or 50% of the footprint if it is less than 3:12. Try not to get confused. There is more ahead.
Yes, how can we miss the most important part of the house? What is a laneway house without those quaint little dormers? The rule says that it should be inset at least 0.6 m from the exterior wall of the floor below.
The first thing you need to know is that this is a bigger house, so there are more rules. The laneway house has to be located within 7.9 m of the ultimate rear property line. Plus, it has to be 4.9 m away from the actual dwelling and at least 0.9 m from the ultimate rear property line, which can also be relaxed if the Director of Planning sees appropriate conditions.
Again, don’t bank upon it. The house also has to be built in conformation with the guidelines of the district schedule.
This is straightforward. It should not exceed the lesser of 0.16 multiplied by the site area, or if you are not willing to calculate, then it should just be 83.6 m2. But it is mandatory that a laneway house must have a minimum area of 26 m2 unless guess who steps in? No brownie points if you guessed it. When the Director of Planning considers the design of the laneway house, they may lessen the minimum floor area to 19 m2.
If you have no separate bedrooms, then skip this. But if you are planning to have a bedroom, then the house should have another habitable room that has an area of 16.7 m2 and a minimum dimension of 2.1 m measured between the wall surfaces. The same applies to the bedroom. The dimension remains the same but ensures that the size is a minimum of 8.4 m2. Rooms are where you live out your rainy, sunny, and wintery days. Invest well.
This laneway house guide will help you understand the computation of floor are for a laneway house. This is an exhaustive list, so you’ll need to sit down for it because it is a long list.
We apologise, the previous list was just a sneak peek into what is to come. This is the real deal.
First, let us tackle what we “must” exclude while measuring the floor area:
Now that we have got the “musts” out of the way let’s discuss what we “may” exclude from the measurement-
The private outdoor space can only have an open balcony, sundeck, or roof deck. Or, have a patio located at grade with a minimum size of 3.7 m2 and a minimum dimension of 1.5 m.
If not using a particular end of the property for anything like parking or fire access, ensure that it is permeable and landscaped.
Nobody likes a decrepit house, and it blemishes the entire row of neat houses.
The first thing is to include is a 75 mm wide trim around all doors and windows. What is trim? It’s installed along those beautiful those door and window frames – to add in decoration. It also hides the messy lines that meet the ceilings from the doors and windows.
A laneway house must also include a canopy over the main entry door.
Yes, there are quite a few.
The Director of Planning will supervise every move, and they can see if a certain exemption to a rule or a relaxation is better suited to the house. They can permit certain freedoms if
It is all up to the condition of the place, its individual qualities, and peculiarities, and how things would shape up there. This is not a free pass to ask the Director to give a little leeway. It just means that when the rule cannot be applied to a specific situation, the Director has the liberty to give the go-ahead.
Building a laneway house can seem tricky. It’s important to read through the provisions to not run afoul. Our laneway house guide is intended to help you navigate the complexities of your laneway house project. We’re sure you wish to make an amazing little house, so do your homework, read this not-so-little rulebook and get all your construction knowledge on point.
Your laneway house is something that is not just going to affect you. It will affect your neighbours, your pets, your children, and the community in which you live. If it seems like a daunting task, the team at Silvercrest can help. We are well-equipped to guide you through the process.
Call or email us for your free consultation today!