Laneway houses in North York
North York is 1950s bungalows on 50 foot lots, many already replaced by two-storey custom homes, with ravine lots along the Don and Humber tributaries. In North York that means checking the lane, the fire access route and the lot depth against the rules before the design starts. 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.
North York, on the ground.
In North York the brief is usually a custom home on a tear-down lot, a second storey on a bungalow worth keeping, or a whole-home renovation with a new rear wall. 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 North York 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. Toronto Building issues the permit; ravine lots add a conservation authority review and the City's ravine by-law before the application goes in.
- 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 North York rules Savino has built under.]
the City of Toronto (Toronto Building) issues the building permit and the demolition permit for the garage, and the fire access route is part of the review.
The conservation authority reviews anything in its regulated area, and Toronto's ravine by-law sets where you can build and what you can remove. That review happens before the permit, so it goes into the schedule from the start.
It comes down to the foundation and the plan. If the footings can carry a floor and the ground-floor layout is worth keeping, a second storey saves the cost of a new foundation. If the plan needs to change everywhere, a new house on the same lot is often the cleaner path. We answer that at the site walk with a test pit and a look at the drawings.