Laneway Housing

A laneway home is a small house (500 – 750 square feet) built on a single family dwelling sized lot (RS-1 or RS-5). These buildings occupy the footprint of the allowable garage space for the lot.

Application process

All laneway housing proposals must go through the same application process described for 1 & 2 family dewellings. If you are proposing to build a 1 or 2 family dwelling and a laneway house at the same time, one application will suffice. All laneway houses must have a dedicated sanitary system and a dedicated storm water system as well as a fire suppression system.

The City of Vancouver will supply only one sanitary service, one storm service and one water service to a property regardless of the number of buildings situated on the lot. If you are proposing to add a laneway to an already developed property you may want to contact the Sewer and Water Design office through a citizen service representative at 3-1-1 to discuss servicing options prior to moving ahead.