Laneway house
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A laneway house is a form of detached secondary suites in Canada built into pre-existing lots, usually in the backyard and opening onto the back lane. Most laneway houses are small. However, public concern has been raised in some communities about the impact that larger forms of this type of housing may have on privacy.[1] Laneway houses are found in densely populated areas in Canadian cities, including Edmonton, Toronto, and Vancouver.
Toronto
During the 19th century, back lanes were used by Toronto residents to house accessory buildings, including garages, storage units and/or stables.[3] A number of these stables were mews, which included a residential area on its upper levels.[4]
The earliest modern laneway home was built in 1989 at Kensington Market, and was designed by Jeffrey Stinston, a professor at the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.[5] Another early example of a modern laneway home includes one built by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects in Leslieville in 1992.[3] The architectural firm received approval for the design from the Ontario Municipal Board, after the firm promoted the housing form as a method to take advantage of unutilized spaces.[3] By 2005, there were approximately several dozen laneway homes in Toronto, including several that were raised illegally.[4] The development of laneway houses in Toronto resulted in the municipal government reviewing their impact on services and their safety in 2006.[6]
Construction of laneway homes in Toronto remained limited until 2018, with earlier by-laws requiring property owners to gain the approval of the municipal planning department before they can build a laneway home.[7] In 2018, the municipal government of Toronto approved a zoning amendment by-law to permit the development of laneway suites on all properties that has a residential designation.[3][8] The amendment was a response to growing concern around affordable housing, and as an effort to promote "gentle densification" by tapping into roughly 2400 publicly owned laneways spread across the city.[9] As a result of the by-law, there exists approximately 257 kilometres (160 mi) of laneways where laneway houses may be built in the city.[10] The majority of these laneways are situated in the old City of Toronto and East York.[10][11] The municipal government of Toronto also launched the "Laneway Suites Pilot Program" in 2018, providing financial assistance to property owners that build laneway houses for rent, on the condition that the property owner can not raise the price of rent past the city's average market rent for 15 years after it is completed.[3]
Toronto-based architects and architectural firms that have designed laneway houses in the city includes Lanescape, Donald Schmitt, LGA Architectural Partners, Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, and Superkül.[7][12] Toronto-based builders specializing in laneway houses in the city includes Laneway Home Building Experts and 2x2 Construction, who is estimated to build 10-12 Laneway Homes in 2022 alone.[13]