Doug Langford will build you a new single-family home on your big 50-by-100-foot lot in South Vancouver.
But that doesn’t mean he likes it.
“The fact that the city of Vancouver still allows a permit for a single family home in the city, is crazy,” said Langford, the co-owner of JDL Homes.
“I have clients that I have built 5,000 square foot houses and four-car garages for, and two people live there.
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Bryn Davidson agrees. The co-owner of Lanefab Design/Build says that while the city moved in the right direction several years ago to allow secondary suites and laneway houses on single-family lots, there is still much more that could be done.
“In our duplex zones, you can build a duplex, but you’re not allowed a laneway house,” he said. “In the single family zones, you can build a laneway house but you’re not allowed to build a duplex.”
In neighbourhoods zoned for single-family homes, three units (the main house, a secondary suite in the house, and a separate laneway house) are now allowed. But they all have to share the same backyard.
