For Eugene Blanchard’s daughter and her partner, the search for a starter home began in Calgary, expanded to Edmonton and then even beyond Alberta’s borders to the Maritimes and Ontario. But homes that checked the right boxes didn’t fit their budget during their hunt about five years ago, recalled Blanchard. Over time, the young couple’s search ended in Blanchard’s own backyard.
“It made a lot of sense,” said the 69-year-old Calgary resident. “Tear down the old garage, build a laneway house for pretty much the cost of a very nice condo and we don’t have to pay the condo fees. “We don’t have a homeowners association except for (an) old dad here.” Laneway homes have been pitched as a solution to building livable spaces in tighter cities, with various levels of government offering incentives to encourage gentle densification in recent years — increasing housing supply and opening room for rental income.
Another use case has also emerged as more older homeowners look for ways to age in their neighbourhoods while sharing space with their adult children without having to share a roof. “The idea of remaining where they’ve lived and loved for so long is a really big factor (for the older generation),” said Andrew Fishman, owner of Toronto-based boutique contracting firm Laneway Home Builders. “We see a big increase in people wanting to stay, you know, where they’ve been.” Fishman, who has been building laneway and garden suites for five years, said it also offers a chance at home ownership to many young Canadians who have been priced out of the market.
— How it works More cities and municipalities have joined the likes of Toronto and Vancouver in offering incentives and bylaw changes to push for more housing with multiplexes and laneway properties in an effort to increase housing supply. Fishman said he has fielded calls from construction companies and homeowners as far away as Edmonton, inquiring about projects and processes. It starts with a feasibility test, he said.
That means finding out whether the property meets all the local requirements, such as zoning and emergency safety and whether a fire hydrant is nearby. “Before getting all excited and jumping into design, you have to know what you could do (with the space),” Fishman said. Then, move on to site logistics: whether there are trees and electrical lines or poles that could impact your building applicatio…
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