Laneway houses in Aurora
A laneway house is a self-contained home at the back of a lot that fronts a public lane, built where the garage stood, and the lot check comes before anything is drawn. The Aurora brief is usually a second storey on a bungalow in the core, a rear addition on a 1980s house, or a custom home on an older lot.
Aurora, on the ground.
Aurora is century houses and 1950s bungalows on generous lots in the old core along Yonge, ringed by subdivisions from the 1980s onward. In Aurora that means checking the lane, the fire access route and the lot depth against the rules before the design starts. Older lots have the width for a crane and a bin, and lots on the moraine add a conservation authority review. The garage comes down, the services are trenched from the house or the street, and the new house goes up at the back of the lot with deliveries from the lane.
Read more about building in Aurora or the full laneway houses page.
On the drawing.
A lot check against the laneway by-law: lane frontage, fire access route, setbacks, height, lot depth
Engineered drawings and a rendering of the laneway house
Building permit filed and followed by us, with the demolition permit for the garage
Foundation, framing, envelope, roof, mechanical, electrical and finishes
Services from the main house or the street as the drawings call for
A deficiency walk with the list closed before the last payment, and a written warranty
Paper first.
A laneway house needs a building permit with engineered drawings and a demolition permit for the garage, and the fire access route is part of the review. The Town of Aurora issues the permit, and heritage listings in the core add a review to exterior work.
- A building permit with engineered drawings is required, plus a demolition permit for the garage.
- In Toronto, laneway suites are permitted as-of-right on qualifying lots under the City's by-law; a lot outside the rules goes to the Committee of Adjustment.
- The fire access route from the street is part of the permit review.
- Other municipalities have their own additional residential unit rules. [Kam confirms which ones Savino has built under.]
The paperwork wall: WSIB, insurance, licences, the HCRA status and the warranty, on one page and dated.
| Driver | What we look at |
|---|---|
| Storeys and floor area | One storey or two, and how much of the allowed footprint is used. |
| Services | Water, sewer, gas and hydro run from the main house or from the street, and the distance sets the trenching. |
| Fire access | The route for a fire hose from the street decides whether sprinklers or other measures are needed. |
| The old garage | Demolition and whether the old slab and footings can go. |
| Finish level | Kitchen, bathroom and flooring chosen from the catalogue. |
No price per square foot on this site. The lot check and the drawings set the number.
It needs lane frontage, a fire access route from the street and the setbacks and lot depth the rules call for. We check the lot before drawings. [Kam confirms the Aurora rules Savino has built under.]
the Town of Aurora issues the building permit and the demolition permit for the garage, and the fire access route is part of the review.
On lots inside the Moraine plan area, yes. The plan and the conservation authority review what can be built and how the site drains, and that review comes before the permit.
Usually, with reinforcement decided by the engineer from a test pit. The lots in the old core and the first subdivisions have the width for a crane.