Am I Ready for This?

By now, I’ve talked to three laneway companies about the possibility of building laneway home on my property in Riley Park. After a week of meetings and consultations with three companies here in Vancouver, I was pleasantly surprised when one of the teams suggested that I drop by a few of their properties-in-progress to really get a feel for the types of places they were building.

I have to say, it makes such a difference to actually get in some spaces and talk to the designers AND builders about their vision for the use of space and building materials. My girlfriend and I went on a tour of three laneways that were at various stages of building ~ getting a complete snapshot view of what this process might look like at various stages of the process. We even got some great info about all of the possible upgrades that we might want to include as we go along and got an up-close-and personal look at the building supplies and fixtures.

From here, the idea is to commit to a design contract and get plans through city hall.  Typically, a laneway company will facilitate a land survey on your property, design and draw up your particular plans according to site specifications and create a budget proposal to be presented to the good folks in the Planning department down at City Hall.

I’m looking at around $15,000 by the time that the permits are in my hands ~ so I’m taking the week to think things through before moving forward… but I’m feeling like the process will be getting underway here pretty quick. I’ll tell you more about it as it unfolds.

Sebastian

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Laneway Housing has been a term bandied about in Vancouver for some time. It was a core principal of the Eco-Density initiative that our previous mayor Sam Sullivan put forward. In theory city council approved laneway housing for Vancouver back in October 2008. However, no permits were given as the details of the building codes and bylaws had yet to be worked out.

This changed as of July 29th, 2009. The bylaws were in place, and as of that Wednesday morning the City of Vancouver was taking applications for laneway housing. There will apparently be 100 permits granted in the first year and city staff will then analyze how well it’s working. On July 29th reports claimed that there were a couple dozen homeowners in line hoping to be amongst the first to be granted one of the coveted permits.

Personally, I love the idea. I think that it will change the city for the better. We’ll have greater rental stock, more housing options, and I believe that it will also make for more friendly, welcoming laneways. In general, it appears that much of the city is in favour of the change. However, there are some smaller, very vocal pockets of resistance. Some people worry about increased density, a cash-grab by city hall, and a lack of parking.

What do you think?

Please Donate

On June 22nd, 2009 I broke the record for the most ascents of the Grouse Grind for charity. The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation is an incredible organization which is there to help women and children suffering from domestic abuse. Of every dollar donated, 100% goes directly to those in need (Royal LePage covers all administrative costs of the charity).

Donate to the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation

More Info on Vancouver Real Estate

If you’d like to learn more about the Vancouver real estate market generally you can check out this page.

Are you thinking of buying or selling, or just have questions then you can contact me here or send me a quick email.

Copyright © 2009 Vancouver Real Estate in the Vancouver Real Estate Blog by Sebastian Albrecht, Vancouver Realtor with Royal LePage Vancouver ”Weekly Vancouver Real Estate Update - July 20th 2009 – Continuing Strength”

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