Service · 03

Laneway homes in Greater Vancouver

A laneway home is a small, detached second house at the back of an existing lot — rental income, a family suite, an aging-parent space, or a workshop with a bed. Vancouver and Burnaby have allowed them for years on lots that have an alley. They’re a quiet, well-trodden way to get more out of a property without subdividing.

What is a laneway home

A detached, self-contained secondary dwelling at the rear of a single-family lot, accessed from the alley. In Vancouver, they typically run between 500 and 900 square feet (the city limits floor area as a function of lot size). Most are one storey with a loft; some are two storeys where height permits.

Burnaby has a parallel program for similar units. Across Greater Vancouver, the policy detail varies but the basic idea is the same: a real house, not a shed, with its own kitchen, bathroom, and services.

Where they make sense

Older grid neighbourhoods with alley access — Strathcona, Mount Pleasant, Hastings-Sunrise, Renfrew-Collingwood, Kensington, the Heights of Burnaby. Postwar lots that are deeper than they are wide are especially good candidates: room for the laneway home at the back without crowding the main house or losing the yard entirely.

Where they don’t make sense: tight infill lots without an alley, sloping lots that would require disproportionate foundation work, or properties where the main house is itself due for major work and the laneway should wait.

What our laneway homes typically include

Full foundation (not a slab-on-grade or pier solution unless code-driven)
Proper services — separate water, electrical, sometimes gas, all coordinated with the main-house lines
One-storey or one-and-a-half-storey layout sized to the bylaw
A kitchen that’s a kitchen, not an “efficiency” afterthought
Real heating — usually a ductless heat pump for these scales
Yard buffer between the laneway home and the main house worth living with

Permits and timelines

The Vancouver laneway housing permit path is well-documented but slower than owners expect. Plan for three to six months from a complete drawing set to a permit in hand; longer if there’s anything unusual about the site (heritage character, drainage complications, easements). Construction itself typically runs six to ten months depending on size and site logistics. Burnaby timelines are similar.

The cost question

Owners ask about per-square-foot numbers. They’re less useful than people think on small builds — foundation, services, and permitting costs don’t shrink proportionally with floor area, so small homes are more expensive per square foot than larger ones. A real quote requires a site walk and a real conversation about finish level and scope. The contact page is the way through.