The Push to Build More 'Granny Flats'

Earlier this month, the city of Vancouver opted to forego a new housing rule that would have restricted homeowners from demolishing their pre-1940 houses and constructing larger dwellings in their place. While preservationists naturally supported the idea, the outcry from many residents persuaded the city’s planners to let it go.

In Vancouver, the world’s third most expensive housing market, residents are desperate for more—and more affordable—places to live, especially in the city’s central neighborhoods, where single-family homes sell for millions of dollars. Some residents feared that the rule would freeze these neighborhoods in time, preventing larger buildings, which could house more people at lower rents, from ever being constructed. The city’s planners say their focus is now on adding more types of housing, such as townhouses, to these single-family zones.