How to start building a laneway home?

How to start a Laneway house project?

Each municipalites have their own rules and regulations, some are easier to accept the laneway homes some harder.
For example, in the city of Vancouver, most properties are eligible to build a laneway home. (It’s always a good idea to call 311 and talk to the enquiry center to make sure your lot is eligible).
On the other hand, in the city of Coquitlam, only lots that are zoned as RT are eligible for building a laneway home. However, this might change soon.
The city of Burnaby is accepting the construction of laneway homes starting in the Fall of 2023 after many years of debates. Read more here.

Step by step guide:

The following is the step-by-step guide as per our experience to help you to find your way.

But if you want to make it easier, contact us and we will take care of all these steps for you and take you from a concept to the move-in to your brand new laneway home in a timely manner.

 

1-Find out the local zoning and regulations,
Check out the municipal website and call them to find out if your property qualifies for this kind of structure. Take note of the regulations, because they will have a major impact on your design. Do you have to provide off-street parking? How big can it be? Setbacks from the property line and the house?
Your designer can help you with some of them too.

The city requires that the owner occupy one of the buildings, note that this building can not be stratified.

 

2-Talk to a designer/builder,
Once you’ve confirmed that you can build a laneway house talk to a designer or a builder to get an idea about the process cost. In many cases, the builder will take care of the rest.

how to start building a laneway home?

3-Site survey
If you hire a builder, they will hire a surveyor for you, or you can hire a surveyor from the telephone book.
We would need a legal survey taken by a BC certified engineer to determine the lot boundary, elevations and utilities location

 

4-Talk to utilities and city services
This new house will need to hook up to sewer and water, electricity and, possibly, gas. Find out the costs of connection fees and permits so you can plan your budget. Check with your city services, BC Hydro and Fortis. Show them the site survey so they can alert you to any concerns that may affect the design or siting of your laneway house.

If there’s an older home on the lot, you might need to update the water line for the sprinkler system or twin the sewer system. It’s important to know these things beforehand.

“We always advise customers to contact BC Hydro before they begin the design process to get a connection estimate,” says Mora Scott from Media Relations and Issues Management at BC Hydro. “The amount of work required will vary for each situation so understanding the cost up front can save customers time and money.”

Later, in the design phase, applicants are required to work with BC Hydro to complete an electrical feasibility study and a physical feasibility study. To proceed with construction, applicants are then required to obtain an electrical permit from the city.

BC Hydro costs associated with a laneway house depend on a number of factors, including height, design and allocation of the laneway house or location on the property.In most cases, BC Hydro will need to add new equipment or upgrade the existing electrical system to provide electrical service to a laneway house.  Mora Scott says that, depending on the scope of work required, costs are usually around $500, but they can go much higher for more complex cases.

Homeowners could be prevented from building a laneway house if they don’t meet BC Hydro’s standard connection guidelines.

“For example, clearance requirements from BC Hydro’s electrical infrastructure are there to keep workers and the public safe,” she says,. “Property owners or parties acting on behalf of a property owner who make an application for electrical service are responsible for ensuring that a laneway or coach house close to the property line meets minimum clearance requirements.”

The standard connection guidelines are available here. For more information about the application process, call BC Hydro’s Electric Service Coordination Centre at 1-877-520-1355.

5-Design
First of all, you need to know your style. Do you want the new building to look like the main house or do you want a different look? Your designer can help you to answer some of these questions, but it’s a good idea to do some research and soul-searching to know yourself and your style.

Get a design done!

You will need detailed plans in order to get permits. A company with experience designing and/or building laneway homes is a good idea because they’re familiar with the regulations and the kinds of problems that can arise with this kind of project. In fact, if you have them on the side from the start, they can guide you through the entire process.

They can help you to hire all other engineers and consultants that required to have all documents ready for the permit application submission.

6-Applying for building permits
Once you have your detailed drawings, you take them to the city for approval. Generally, you will need a development permit, and once you’ve been approved for that you’ll need a building permit. (Depends on the municipalities. For example city of Vancouver will have a combined application but for the district of West Vancouver you would need to apply for DP first and then BP)

In Vancouver, the permit process takes about six months, although the city recently went back to the city council to reduce the length of the process for one-storey laneway homes.

7-Finance 

All this will cost money. CMHC offers forgivable loans through its Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program if the home is built to accommodate the needs of seniors or people with disabilities.

Some banks offer a Laneway Homebuyers’ Bundle that includes free legal and appraisal services, plus a preferred interest rate and the potential to earn up to 2% cashback.

8- Construction

Build it…If you don’t have any building experience, you better leave it to experts and hire someone who can help you throughout the process.

We take care of the construction of the laneway home within 4 to 6 months, depending on the time of the year we start.
Our work is insured and bonded by a reputable insurance company, even though we never had any claims within the last 35 years of our practice.

9-Move in
Hopefully, you hired a builder who cares about the environment and builds a green home for you. So, you can enjoy your new Laneway home with minimum operation cost.

Laneway house Vancouver

Vancouver laneway house