Toronto, Say Yes! to Laneway Houses

So the City is considering adjusting our by-laws to allow for laneway houses.

A laneway house is what the title suggests, a house built on a laneway.

Adjustments to the by-laws in this regard, would allow owners of houses that back onto a laneway to build a small house behind their existing home. In other words, to create a “house behind a house” on land that they own.

This image depicts the idea well:

Here are some other images of an existing laneway house in our city (done by KOHN. SHNIER architects), so you can get a sense of the potential:

There are many benefits to allowing for laneway houses, some of which include:

Greater low density rental stock (giving rise to more supply and putting downward pressure on rental rates)
Alternative living options for families – accommodating teenagers, aging parents, alternative family structures, etc.
New income sources for families
Enhancement of our City’s character and neighbourhoods (its cool!)

There are however some challenges to navigate and overcome, including:

Finding a way to run services to these new units (i.e. water, garbage, etc..)
Ensuring minimal impact to neighbours with respect to views and sunlight
Accommodating parking (if individuals use their laneways for house, where will they park?). We must incorporate parking solutions into the plan.
Accommodating storm water management and water run-off. Currently, laneways, backyards and green spaces help the city manage storm water. Adding more density and less greenspace could materially affect our storm water management plan, making our properties more susceptible to flooding.

Last week, I went to a meeting at City Hall. Laneway houses was the agenda item and I decided to bring my 5 year old son along. Here is a picture of him in the Council Chamber before and during the meeting (they let him sit up front where the city councillors sit):