Bobo Architecture

Before embarking on a laneway house (LWH) project, it is crucial to understand the city's regulations and bylaws to see if a laneway house can be built on your property. The following article provides a comprehensive overview of what you need to consider when planning and building a laneway house. By following these guidelines, you can navigate the process smoothly and create a wonderful addition to your property.

1. Know Your Zone

The city is divided into a number of zones that have outright and conditional approval uses. So first and foremost, you will want to check if your property is in a zone that laneway houses are allowed in. Access the city's zoning map here. Enter your address and click on your lot. You will get a pop up noting the zoning of your property. A laneway house is allowed on your lot if it’s within the yellow area designated as “Residential Inclusive”, also known as RS 1-1.

2. Eligibility for Laneway Houses

The first requirement is that a laneway house is only permitted with a single detached house or a single detached house with a secondary suite. This is important as it means that if you have a duplex, a triplex, or any other type of multi-family dwelling on your lot, then you cannot build a laneway house. Additionally, if your lot backs onto another lot, instead of a lane or an alley, then you cannot build a laneway house either. You need to have vehicular access from the rear of the site to accommodate the laneway house with its own parking space.

3. Lot Dimension Criteria

Your lot needs to meet certain dimensional criteria for a laneway house. The minimum lot width for a laneway house is 9.8 meters (approximately 32 feet). However, the director of planning may allow a narrower lot, as low as 7.3 meters (about 24 feet), based on the massing, impact, and compatibility of the laneway house with the surrounding neighborhood.

4. Floor Area Regulations

Your laneway house needs to follow specific floor area regulations. The total floor area of the laneway house is restricted to 0.25 FSR (floor space ratio), which means it cannot exceed 25% of the lot area. For example, if your lot is 33 feet by 120 feet, which is a standard size in Vancouver, then your lot area is 4000 square feet. Therefore, the maximum floor area of your laneway house is 4000 times 0.25, which is 1000 square feet. That’s a comfortable 2 bedroom house!

Some elements count towards this maximum floor area, while others do not:

Included in floor area:

All floors measured to the outer limits of the building, to the outer face of your building cladding. High performance buildings with thicker walls are able to get bonus FSR.
Stairways, elevator shafts, and other vertical circulation spaces are included for each floor.
Any space exceeding 3.7 meters (about 12 feet) in height is counted twice.

Exclude from floor area:

Floor space used for off-street parking (open on at least two sides and not longer than 7.3 meters or about 24 feet).
Balconies and decks (up to 8% of the floor area).
Entry porches and verandahs, provided the guardrails do not exceed the minimum height, and the total area of exclusions when combined with balconies and decks does not exceed 15% of the permitted floor area.
Areas of floors located below a sloped roof or ceiling with a minimum 7:12 pitch where the ceiling height is between 2.3 m and 1.2 m. This is exclusion is limited to 10% of the permitted floor area.
Undeveloped floors located above the highest storey or adjacent to low-ceiling storeys.
Floors located at or below finished grade with a ceiling height of less than 1.2 meters.

5. Setbacks and Site Coverage

Laneway houses need to respect setbacks from property lines and the main house. Setbacks include:

A rear setback of 0.9 meters (about 3 feet) from the rear property line.
Side setbacks of 1.2 meters (about 4 feet) from side property lines.
A setback from the main house of 4.9 meters (about 16 feet) from the closest wall of the main house.

The maximum site coverage for a laneway house is 50%. This means that the area occupied by the any built structures including the primary house and laneway house cannot exceed half of the lot area.

6. Building Height

A laneway house can be up to 2 storeys high with a maximum building height of 8.5 meters (28 feet).

7. Interior Space Requirements

Your laneway house must include a main living room of at least 16.7 square meters in area with a minimum clear dimension of 2.1 meters. Additionally, it must have at least one bedroom that is at least 8.4 square meters in area with a minimum clear dimension of 2.1 meters.

Conclusion

If your lot satisfies the requirements listed above, then - congratulations! - it's likely that you can build a laneway house in your backyard. What are you waiting for? Go contact a designer or an architect and get designing!

Conversely, if you find that some of the requirements can't be met because of an irregularity with your lot or primary house, don't fret! Most of the requirements have some wiggle room, depending on how the Director of Planning is feeling that day. It's still worth a shot to contact the city to see what variances they would allow to make your laneway house dream a reality.