Zoning
Which lots does Bill 44 not apply to?
Lots over one acre, properties without municipal water and sewer, provincial heritage sites and Agricultural Land Reserve land. A title covenant can also limit you.
The short answer
Four kinds of property sit outside the province's small scale multi unit housing rules, and a fifth thing can restrict you even when the zoning does not.
- Lots over one acre, which is 4,050 m²
- Lots without municipal water and sewer
- Provincially designated heritage properties
- Land in the Agricultural Land Reserve
- A covenant registered on your title, which sits on top of zoning rather than inside it
The covenant is the one people do not check
Zoning is public and easy to look up. A covenant is registered against your specific title, and plenty of owners have never read theirs.
It is worth a title search before you plan anything, because a covenant can restrict what the zoning would otherwise permit. It is also worth reading rather than assuming, since many are narrower than they sound and some have expired outright.
Agricultural Land Reserve land works differently
ALR land is not a case of stricter zoning. It is a separate provincial process, and the decision belongs to the Agricultural Land Commission rather than your municipality.
The Commission commonly allows a second, smaller residence on ALR land. The difference is that you apply for it rather than receive it as of right, which changes both the timeline and the certainty.
Being outside the rules is not a dead end
This is the part worth sitting with. The provincial rules are one route to more homes on a lot, not the only one.
Exempt properties often still support a secondary suite, a coach house, or a rezoning application. What changes is the path and the timeline, not necessarily the outcome. It is an order of operations rather than a refusal.
Vancouver is already ahead in places
Worth knowing if your property is over the line in Vancouver rather than Delta: the city's own R1-1 zoning already permits more than the provincial minimum on many standard lots. The provincial floor is not always the ceiling that applies to you.
Find out which side you are on
Source: City of Delta