Laneway Houses making an impact in Vancouver | General Homesteading Discussion | Forums

@hessian 

I know you are thinking of the tiny home thing, this might be something to look into, might be a good opportunity for someone focused on smaller designs

VANCOUVER, Canada—Brent Wager lined up with a few dozen other people in a Vancouver alleyway on a smudgy October afternoon, waiting to get into the small, peaked-roof house with a tiny balcony facing the lane. Queued up with him were young couples, some with toddlers, older couples without, and a mix of all kinds of people in between.

The crowd had gathered to inspect what has become a Vancouver phenomenon: little houses built in the backyards of single-family homes. They’re the product of an innovative policy passed by a city council desperately searching for ways to create rental housing in a place where the base price for a single-family home now tops a million dollars.

For Wager, who has one of these "laneway houses" under construction in the backyard of his east Vancouver property, the one-day tour of other such homes was a chance to get more ideas for a concept he’s already committed to.

“I think it’s a lovely, cool idea,” says Wager, a 48-year-old dental hygienist. He has family reasons to build: His 72-year old mother lives in a faraway suburb and may consider moving in as she gets older.

Until then, he may move in himself. Like many in Vancouver, Wager is constantly triangulating how to stay ahead in a crushingly expensive housing market. He already rents out a basement suite in his main house. He might move into the 850-square foot (80-square meter) laneway house himself and rent out the space he lives in now.

more http://www.citylab.c.....ay/420252/