Last week, Vancouver City Councillors Sarah Kirby‑Yung and Mike Klassen introduced the Opening Doors: Expanding Ownership Options for Laneway and Backyard Homes Members’ Motion, directing City staff to explore options to allow the subdivision or stratification of residential lots containing secondary detached housing units—such as laneway homes or accessory dwelling units (ADUs) – particularly in situations where the units comply with R1-1 zoning guidelines, and the form and siting are functionally equivalent to those permitted in multiplex subdivisions. As a long-standing proponent of ‘missing middle’ housing policies, HAVAN submitted a letter of support to Council, recognizing the potential for this motion to unlock new ownership opportunities and support gentle densification.
The motion passed unanimously—a strong signal of Council’s willingness to consider expanding tools to address Vancouver’s ongoing housing affordability challenges. This is a meaningful first step in opening the door to more accessible homeownership models for a broader range of residents.
Currently, Vancouver has enabled stratification and subdivision for multiplex development, but not for laneway and backyard homes. This policy gap limits the potential of these smaller, ground-oriented homes to be more than just rental units, mortgage helpers or familial residences. Looking at 2021 Census data via the Metro Vancouver Housing Data Book, over 50% of Vancouver households are renters, which is the highest in the region (excluding Electoral Area A that includes UBC). With the renters across Metro Vancouver at 38%, it’s clear that many would-be homeowners are unable to enter the market due to high costs and a lack of “missing middle” options.
Allowing the stratification or subdivision of these units would give existing property owners the ability to leverage their land to create new ownership housing, and potentially enhance economic mobility by helping homeowners unlock equity and contribute to new supply without needing to redevelop their entire property. As well, it represents a valuable opportunity to support gentle densification that increases long-term diversity, resilience, and vibrancy.
According to the City’s building permits issuance data, so far this year 224 building permits were issued for laneway homes, with153 categorized as new build – standalone laneway. Since 2010, there have been 2,083 building permits issued for this same category, and so it will be interesting to track the impact the allowance of stratification will have on the number of future building permit applications. It is safe to assume that any ground-level housing will continue to be a more premium-priced product, but this still would provide a pathway for some residents who want to call Vancouver home without a landlord.
The City has come a long way to enable more housing forms, and although there is still room for improvement on a number of issues, it is important to support the ‘wins’ as they come. It is a step in the right direction, and as each solution brings positive results, perhaps the City may be more amenable to other solutions that are not on their radar at the moment such as more densified multi-family housing forms in lower density neighbourhoods. The more we can do to enable ‘missing middle’ homes with the right guidelines in place, the better.
We will be reaching out to members who specialize in this housing form for insights we can share with staff as they work on their recommendations for Council. If you would like to proactively share your thoughts on this, please forward them to our Donovan Arseneault, HAVAN’s Manager, Policy and Research, donovan@havan.ca.
Continuing with the City of Vancouver, and as mentioned in Saturday’s HAVAN GRU, the City also launched a streamlined permit process for smaller multiplex projects. Some of the features of this process include:
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Apply for all development and building permits at once.
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Faster and more predictable processing expected.
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Smart forms tailored to your project.
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Fewer documents needed overall.
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Estimated fees up front.
This streamlined process is applicable under a couple of conditions:
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if your site is in the R1-1, RT-7, or RT-9 zone
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You’re building exactly 3-4 units split across 2 buildings (Building A: 2 units, Building B: 1-2 units)
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You’ll apply for all permits at once (development and building)
For more information about this process on the City of Vancouver website, click here.
HAVAN continues to work with CHBA BC and CHBA to advocate for all levels of government to work together to address the challenges of the housing industry including zoning restrictions, density limits, and NIMBYism.
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