Laneway houses in Scarborough
Scarborough is mostly 1950s to 1970s bungalows and side-splits on 40 to 50 foot lots, the easiest houses in the city to add a floor to. In Scarborough 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.
Scarborough, on the ground.
The Scarborough brief is usually a second storey on a bungalow, a rear addition with an open kitchen, or a lowered basement for a legal suite. 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 Scarborough 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. Permits come from Toronto Building; Scarborough has had no separate office since amalgamation in 1998, and lots near the Bluffs add a conservation review.
- 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 Scarborough 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 City of Toronto. Scarborough has been inside the City since 1998, so the application goes to Toronto Building.
It adds a review. Lots within the conservation authority's regulated area need its sign-off before the permit, and the setback from the edge governs where an addition can go. We find that out at the zoning check.