Infill & Multiplex

Multi-Unit Homes on Single-Family Lots

Coach houses, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhouse assemblies. West Vancouver is about to allow four homes on most single-family lots and six near transit, and the zoning is the easy half. We build these on the lots the North Shore actually has.

Check what your lot allows →

Where things stand

West Vancouver's Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 5446 goes to first, second and third reading on 21 September 2026, then requires Ministry of Transportation and Transit approval before adoption. It would affect around 10,400 parcels. Whistler and the City of Vancouver already permit small-scale multi-unit housing. Read the plain-language explanation →

Four ways to add homes to a lot

They are not variations on a theme. They suit different owners, cost very different amounts, and carry very different amounts of disruption. Most people arrive assuming they want one of these and leave having chosen another.

Coach house

A second, smaller building behind the house, held to 6.4 m. The smallest step, the least disruption, and under the proposal you could sell it rather than only rent it. Best for owners staying put who want family nearby or an income.

Coach house building →

Duplex, triplex or fourplex

One building with three or four front doors, still two storeys plus a basement. The main route to four homes on a typical lot, and usually a rebuild rather than an addition.

Multiplex building →

Six homes near transit

Lots within 400 m of frequent transit along Marine Drive get a higher floor area ratio, three storeys, and no parking requirement at all. One of the six must be an affordable rental.

The six-unit rules →

Townhouse assembly

Two or more adjoining lots combined, at 1.2 floor area ratio and 50% site coverage with underground parking excluded. A development project, and the largest provision in the bylaw.

Townhouses & lot assembly →

What is permitted today, and what a four-unit zone would add. Each colour is a separate home with its own front door.

The five routes side by side

Everything below is what proposed Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 5446, 2026 would permit in West Vancouver. It is not adopted yet. Floor area ratio is all-inclusive, meaning every building on the lot comes out of one budget.

Route	Homes	Height	Floor area ratio	Sell them separately?	Where it applies
Coach house	2, or 3 with a suite	House 8.0 m, coach house 6.4 m	0.65 lot, 0.45 house	Yes, and that is the change	Any four-unit lot
Duplex plus suites	Up to 4	8.0 m, two storeys plus basement	0.65 lot	Yes, except the suites	Lots 280 m² and over
Triplex or fourplex	3 or 4	Front 8.0 m, rear 6.4 m	0.65 lot, 0.45 per dwelling	Yes	Lots 280 m² and over
Six homes near transit	6	Front 10.67 m, rear 8.0 m, three storeys plus basement	0.8 lot, 0.6 per building	Yes, one must be affordable rental	Within 400 m of transit
Townhouse assembly	Depends on the assembly	As the zone allows	1.2, site coverage 50%	Yes	Two or more lots assembled

Lots under 280 m² are prescribed three homes rather than four. Three detached buildings are allowed only on lots of 930 m² or larger, otherwise two. The six-unit RG-4 strip runs broadly along Marine Drive out to about 25th Street, and no on-site parking may be required there. On an assembly, underground parking is excluded from the 1.2 floor area calculation entirely. Under the proposal every dwelling on a lot except a secondary suite may be stratified or rented, at the owner's choice. Six hundred and forty-one parcels in the District are exempt from the legislation altogether. Check what your own lot allows →

On cost, our construction range for new multi-unit work in West Vancouver is currently $450 to $650 per square foot, driven mostly by access, lot terrain, finishes and how many separate buildings the design needs. How that works out on a real lot →

The provision nobody is talking about

Almost all of the public conversation has been about whether a homeowner should add a coach house or a fourplex. The clause with the largest consequences is quieter. Where two or more lots are assembled for townhouses in the six-unit zone, the proposed floor area ratio is 1.2 with 50% site coverage, and underground parking does not count against it at all.

Two assembled RS4 lots at 731 m² each is 1,462 m². At 1.2 that is roughly 18,900 ft² of townhouse, with no parking minimum. That is a ten to twelve home project on Marine Drive, and it is a different business from a homeowner adding a suite.

One row or two. The rear setback drops from 6.0 m to 2.44 m where the site has a lane.

Zoning is the easy half

Every one of these forms is permitted on paper. Whether it can actually be built, and what it costs, is decided by things a zoning map does not show. In West Vancouver that list is longer than most places.

Development permit areas. The Wildfire Hazard area alone covers roughly half the District's land, and where it applies the permit must be approved before you can apply for a building permit. Environmental and Foreshore areas apply elsewhere, and a lot can sit in more than one.
Slope and geotechnical conditions, which on a hillside lot can cost more than an extra home is worth.
Trees. The tree bylaw frequently decides where a second building can physically go.
Servicing capacity to properties built in the 1960s and 1970s.
Permit time. Roughly 8 to 14 weeks for simple work, 22 to 44 weeks for a custom home or major project, and those numbers are structural rather than a backlog.
Whether it pencils at all. Across British Columbia, under one percent of eligible lots are redeveloped in a year, and construction cost rather than zoning is the reason.

That gap is the whole job. Eurohouse Construction has been building in West Vancouver since 2009, through the wildfire and environmental permit areas, the tree bylaw, steep-slope geotechnical work and permit timelines that regularly run past 30 weeks. We will tell you if your lot is a candidate, and we will tell you if it is not.

Across the region

West Vancouver

Around 10,400 parcels affected, four homes on most lots and six near transit, subject to the 21 September readings and Ministry approval. Minimum lot areas from 488 m² to 1,625 m², so lot width is rarely the constraint here.

West Vancouver multiplex →

City of Vancouver

R1-1 multiplex zoning has been in force for some time and 643 multiplex permits were issued in 2025. Frontage is the binding constraint: a typical 33 ft lot cannot reach the unit counts that make a project pay.

Building in Vancouver →

Whistler

Roughly 3,470 parcels have been subject to small-scale multi-unit rules since 2024, most with a four-home minimum. No six-unit parcels, because transit service does not meet the Provincial threshold.

Building in Whistler →

North Vancouver

The District and the City each have their own rules and their own numbers. We build on both sides of the boundary and can tell you where yours sits.

Ask about North Vancouver →

Who this suits, honestly

Most West Vancouver owners who could add homes will not, and that is a reasonable decision. The people for whom it genuinely works tend to fall into four groups.

Owners with no mortgage who want a second home on the lot for a child, or rental income while they stay put. The smallest ticket and the largest group, and the ownership coach house was written for exactly this.
Recent buyers with a tired house on a good lot, deciding between one large home and several. This needs a feasibility answer before an architect, not after.
Owners of two or more adjoining lots in the transit strip, looking at townhouses.
Builders and developers from outside the North Shore who have taken on a West Vancouver site and discovered that the approvals, not the construction, are the hard part.

If you are not in one of those groups, there is no rush. The bylaw is not going anywhere and neither is your lot.

Infill and multiplex: common questions

What is small-scale multi-unit housing?

It is the Provincial term for ground-oriented homes on lots that used to allow only a house: secondary suites, coach houses, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhouses. British Columbia's Bill 44 in 2023 and Bill 25 in 2025 require municipalities to permit these across most residential zones. It is not apartment zoning, and in West Vancouver the storey limits and setbacks are largely unchanged.

Which is cheaper, a coach house or a fourplex?

A coach house, by a wide margin, because it is a small new building beside a house you keep living in. A fourplex is usually a rebuild: you lose the existing house, the servicing gets upgraded, and the project is financed differently. The right comparison is not cost but outcome, since one adds a single home and lets you stay put, and the other resets the whole property.

Do I have to add units if the bylaw passes?

No. Additional homes are permitted, never required. An owner can continue to build or keep a single-family home with or without a secondary suite. District staff have said they expect actual take-up to be incremental, and the province-wide experience supports that.

Can the units be sold separately?

Under West Vancouver's proposal, yes. Any dwelling other than a secondary suite may be stratified or rented at the owner's choice. That is a significant change from today, where a coach house can only be rented. Secondary suites remain the exception and cannot be stratified.

Where do I start?

With your lot, not with a design. Zone, lot area, how much floor area your existing house already uses, which development permit areas apply, the slope, the trees and how you would get equipment to the back of the property. Our free density check covers the zoning half in about a minute, and we will do the rest properly if the first answer looks promising.

Start with the lot, not the drawings

Send us the address. We will confirm the zone and how many homes it would allow, work out the floor area you actually have, check the permit areas, flag the site issues, and give you a realistic cost and timeline before anyone draws anything.

Ask about your lot → Free Density Check →

Sources and status. West Vancouver provisions are from the District's council report of 20 July 2026 on proposed Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 5446 and its Appendix A working approach; the bylaw is proposed, has not been adopted, and may be amended. Whistler and City of Vancouver figures are from those municipalities and from published market analysis. Diagrams are Eurohouse Construction's own illustrations, simplified for explanation. This page is general information, not planning, legal or design advice. Confirm current requirements with the relevant municipality before making decisions. Last updated 1 September 2026.