Adding housing choice in neighbourhoods across Vancouver
What's happening
Basement regulations in RS zones
At the public hearing on November 5, Council approved changes to repair, strengthen, and clarify the regulations for basements and cellars in new houses in RS zones so that house designs include more livable basements and secondary suites.
Council enacted these changes on June 23, 2020.
- Read the Council report PDF file (735 KB) and the open house information displays PDF file (2 MB) for more information on the changes.
- Read this backgrounder PDF file (1.8 MB) for more information on existing housing options in low-density neighbourhoods.
- Review the regulations in the Zoning and land use document library
For permit enquiries, contact the Development and Building Services Centre at 604-873-7611 or permitquestions@vancouver.ca.
Thank you for your input
Our online survey regarding housing choice in low density neighbourhoods is now closed.
Shifting towards the right supply of housing to meet the needs of people who live and work in Vancouver is a key objective of the Housing Vancouver Strategy.
To meet the right supply targets, we are looking at new opportunities to add housing choice across the city in our low-density neighbourhoods as a key building block of a future citywide plan.
The aim is to deliver housing that falls in the “missing middle”, between single-family homes and higher density apartments.
Get updates
City-wide Plan
Following the 2018 election, the new Council requested that staff focus planning efforts on initiating a City-wide Plan.
Making Room is transitioning from being an independent planning program focused on adding housing choice to low density neighbourhoods into a broader integrated planning effort to create complete communities as part of the work of the City-wide Plan.
The Vancouver Plan engagement process launched on November 14, 2019.
Other work underway
Other work related to creating more housing choice includes exploring low-carbon housing options as part of the Climate Emergency Response PDF file (609 KB)
Contact us
Media
Dan Garrison, Assistant Director of Housing, interviewed with CBC about what the plan entails.