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I was at the information open house yesterday to gather more information about the laneway housing. The following two links will give you a clear picture of regulations which have basically been approved by council.

Public open house information boards

Laneway housing Q & A

The only thing they are waiting on is to hear the public’s feedback on July 21st. If there is no major opposition, then it will go through as outlined and could happen very quickly afterwards. If there is a lot of concern of opposition, then it may required more time to amend.If you have strong opininons either way, I definitely recommend you to be at the public hearing.

The city is still working on amending the district schedule, but these
are some notes which we believe to be effective sometime after July.
(Please note that this information is not confirmed and we cannot be
held responsible for the use of it.)

a) Permit a house with:
     * More floor area overall (up to 0.70 FSR);
     * Less floor area above grade (0.45 FSR or less,
        if an above grade formula permits less);
     * A smaller house footprint (25% of lot area); and
     * A basement no larger than the first storey.

b) For existing houses, permit a basement provided that:    
     * Total floor area is not be more than
        0.75 FSR after the basement is added;
     * Existing above grade area is 0.50 FSR or less
        (no additional floor area is permitted above grade
        – see note below);
     * The house footprint is not more than 25% of lot area; and
     * The basement is not larger than the first storey.

c) Basement regulations are added to the zoning as an option, i.e. current floor area regulations are still available.

Part 2: More Livable Basements
     * Outright basement height increase from 4 feet to 6 feet
        in RS-1/3/3A/5/6; and
     * Outright building height increase in the RS-1 zone
        from 30 feet to 31 feet.  The primary and secondary envelopes
        are also increased by one foot.

NOTE: 

    * An existing two-storey house cannot increase above grade floor area to 0.50 FSR,
       i.e. if existing is 0.47 FSR, it cannot increase to 0.50 FSR.
    * An existing one-storey bungalow may add a second storey, subject to the provisions in Part 1:(a),
        i.e. above grade cannot exceed 0.45 FSR (or less, depending on the above grade formula).

Changes to allow Laneway Housing in RS-1 and RS-5 zoned single family areas are currently being proposed for the City of Vancouver. The report outlining the proposed changes, which will be presented to Vancouver City Council in mid-June, is now available online (click here) . A July 21 public hearing is anticipated, at which time council will hear public feedback before making a decision on the proposed changes. Prior to that, there will be two information open houses offering a preview of the laneway housing proposal:

• Wednesday, June 24,  4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Italian Cultural Centre, 3075 Slocan Street (at Grandview Highway)

• Thursday, June 25,  4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Hellenic Community Centre, 4500 Arbutus Street (at West 30th Avenue)

For more information on the laneway housing proposal, visit the EcoDensity website at http://www.vancouver-ecodensity.ca/

Greater Vancouver posted Canada’s second-highest increase in house sales last month.Sales in the area jumped 16.4 per cent between May and the same month last year, just behind Edmonton’s 18.7-per-cent increase, the Canadian Real Estate Association said yesterday.The average house price for the city and surrounding area was $583,674, down 6.6 per cent from a year earlier.Nationally, the housing market continued to rebound in May with a fourth consecutive increase in monthly sales, the association said. The Ottawa-based group said the average sale price of a home sold through the multiple listing service reached a record of $319,757.That’s up 0.4 per cent from May 2008, when the previous record was set. The association said the market is now returning to what it called “pre-recession levels” of activity. Nationally, prices are up 16.4 per cent from their January low.“Sales activity is now closer to the pre-recession peak than it is to the recent low point reached last January,” association president Dale Ripplinger said. “Strengthening consumer confidence, low interest rates, and improved affordability are drawing buyers to the housing market.”CREA said transaction activity in the country’s most expensive markets is leading to an overall rebound, which is helping to skew the average price upward. In the past, the reverse has happened.There were 49,521 units sold last month, a 0.8-per-cent decline from May 2008.Actual sales were up in 14 of 25 major markets. Toronto was up 1.9 per cent, Montreal 8.2 per cent and Calgary 11.3 per cent.The jump in sales activity comes as supply is declining. The pace of new-home building is down close to 50 per cent from last year while new listings in the existing-homes market are also sharply declining.The association said new listings are at at their lowest level since December 2005. There were 49,438 actual new listings in Canada’s top markets, down 22.7 per cent from a year earlier. Greater Vancouver saw new listings fall 35 per cent from a year ago.“Inventory levels are still high in many markets, but fewer new listings and rising sales activity suggests that the selection of homes available for sale may shrink as the year progresses,” association chief economist Gregory Klump said. “The supply of homes up for sale needs to be drawn down further before average price increases become more widespread among local markets.”
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