by The push is on for greater density in our existing neighbourhoods.
Multi-plex, quads, our own Flexplex design – small infill developments are all over the news. But what are these buildings exactly? Multi-unit housing is certainly nothing new. Many ancient Romans lived in insulae or small apartment buildings. What we might call the ‘missing middle’ today!
caption: An insula dating from the early 2nd century AD in the Roman port town of Ostia Antica Image credit: By iessi – Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1730258
What IS new, at least to most of Canada, is the idea that it’s no longer OK for municipalities to limit housing in certain neighbourhoods to just being in the form of single family detached houses.
Recent initiatives of the federal Trudeau government have tied generous new funding for municipalities to the easing of restrictions around what kind of housing individuals are allowed to build on their properties. In Toronto, for example, four-plexes or ‘quads’ are now allowed as-of-right in all residential or ‘R’ zoned areas. Kitchener, and no doubt many other cities, are holding consultations on similar relaxation of the rules. As John Lorinc so succinctly put it on Spacing.ca “As of right means letting the city be a city, finally.”
Fourplexes are not new to us, though. Sustainable and Greenbilt homes obtained approval under the old rules for an innovative ‘Flex-Plex’ that can be configured – and easily reconfigured (the ‘flex’) from a single family dwelling to up to four separate apartments with a simple weekend reno. You can read more about this here.
The ’trick’ to making a fourplex (or even a triplex) work on many sites often lies in the stairs as we must provide two fire-safe exits from every suite. The other key design issue we encounter is good acoustic privacy between suites. The old adage that ‘children should be seen but no heard’ might have been aimed at the rambunctious kids living upstairs!
Another significant recent bylaw change in Toronto was the removal of minimum parking requirements on most residential developments. I have written about this before here. Removing the requirement for on-site parking will be the key to unlocking the potential for triplex and fourplex infill projects on many sites in Toronto. Curious about the potential for your property to support this level of intensification? Book a call to speak with one of our knowledgeable Architects and learn what you can do to help create more high quality rental housing.
Bill 23 and Backyard Housing
Remember Bill 23? The whole tawdry “go-to-a-wedding, get-your-land-removed-from-the-Greenbelt” scandal? Well, there was, and remains a lot more of Bill 23 than removing protected lands from the Greenbelt. One of the more positive changes is that Backyard Houses (aka Laneway Suites, ADU, Coach Houses, etc) are now a thing all across Ontario. Fort Erie is one of the most recent municipalities to enact bylaws permitting this type of housing, but they are far from alone. Most Municipalities we know of are busy updating bylaws to ensure that on most residential property in a town in Ontario (not rural lots, though), you will have the right to have both a main house with two suites (ie a basement apartment and main house) AND an extra dwelling unit in a separate building in the backyard.
Now, of course, not ALL properties will be able to do this. It will depend on the size of the lot, how close you are to neighbours, perhaps on the presence or healthy trees in the yard, and the ability for fire fighters to access the backyard house. The specifics with regards to size, height, # of storeys, and even fire access vary from town to town. For example, on a laneway in Toronto, you can build a 3 bedroom, 2 storey house of up to 1,720 sf and even through in a basement if you must. In Kitchener, only single storey buildings of up to 860 sf are allowed, but they can be closer to the main house than in Toronto.
Confused yet? Don’t worry! We can help you figure out if a backyard house makes sense for you. Book a consult with us here.
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