Bill 44 and Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing: What Changed on BC Residential Lots

Bill 44 requires most B.C. municipalities with more than 5,000 people to allow 3, 4, or 6 homes on lots that used to hold only a house or a duplex. The count turns on lot size and distance to a prescribed frequent bus stop. A parcel of 280 m² (3,014 sq. ft.) or smaller must permit at least 3 units. A larger parcel must permit at least 4. A parcel larger than 280 m² that sits within 400 metres of a qualifying stop must permit at least 6.

The law is the Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act, 2023. Local governments had to rewrite zoning by June 30, 2024. Bill 25, which received Royal Assent on November 27, 2025, closed loopholes around “restricted zones” and set a second bylaw deadline of June 30, 2026. The Province’s preliminary estimate was more than 130,000 new small-scale units over 10 years.

You do not have to build. A single detached house is still legal. What changed is the minimum number of units the zoning bylaw must allow. That floor now sits on most urban lots in Langley and Surrey.

What Bill 44 actually changed

Before Bill 44, a typical RS or R-1 lot allowed one house, sometimes with a secondary suite, and a rezoning if you wanted a triplex or fourplex. Neighbours could force a public hearing. Council could say no.

After Bill 44, those extra units are a provincial minimum on restricted lots. The municipality cannot zone for fewer units than the statute requires. It can allow more. It can still regulate height, setbacks, lot coverage, and form.

According to the Province of British Columbia, secondary suites and accessory dwelling units (ADUs), such as a garden suite or coach house, must be allowed province-wide in single-family zones where the 3-to-6-unit rules do not apply.

Premier David Eby put the policy this way when the package was introduced: “Constructing mostly high-rise condo towers or single-family homes means B.C. isn’t building enough small-scale multi-unit homes that fit into existing neighbourhoods.”

How many units your lot can hold

The provincial floor is a three-tier test. Measure the lot first. Then check whether any part of it falls within 400 metres of a prescribed bus stop.

A prescribed stop is not “a busy bus.” The regulation requires at least one route that stops every 15 minutes on average, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Lots inside a designated Transit-Oriented Area (TOA) around SkyTrain or a prescribed exchange sit under Bill 47, not the 3-to-6 SSMUH table. Those parcels are written for mid-rise and high-rise density instead.

A parcel larger than 4,050 m2 (about one acre), or a zone whose minimum subdivision size is larger than 4,050 m2, is exempt from the 3-to-6 rule. It still has to allow a suite or an ADU if it is a single-family restricted zone.

What did not change

Bill 44 is a zoning floor. It is not a building permit, a servicing guarantee, or a mortgage approval.

•       You still need a building permit and BC Building Code compliance.

•       The lot still needs municipal water and sewer for the 3-to-6 rules to apply.

•       Strata bylaws, building schemes, and some covenants can still restrict extra units even when zoning allows them.

•       Development cost charges, school site charges, and servicing upgrades still apply.

•       A lender still stress-tests the mortgage. Extra units only help if the income is documented. See how to finance a purchase.

•       A single-family house remains a legal use on the same lot.

Langley City, Township of Langley, and Surrey

The provincial floor is the same. The local bylaw is not. Confirm the parcel on the municipal map before you price density into an offer.

City of Surrey

Surrey adopted its SSMUH zoning amendments on July 8, 2024. Eligible urban lots under 280 m² may hold 3 units. Larger eligible lots may hold 4. About 13,000 lots, roughly 18% of Surrey’s SSMUH lots, sit within 400 metres of a TransLink frequent-bus stop listed in Schedule F. Those lots may hold 6 units, and the City cannot require off-street parking or loading for that housing.

Surrey’s forms include a houseplex (triplex or fourplex), a duplex with suites, a house plus suite plus coach house or garden suite, and combinations that reach six units near frequent bus service. Lots inside a Transit-Oriented Area follow the higher Bill 47 heights instead of the SSMUH table.

Township of Langley

The Township adopted Bylaw No. 6020 on November 18, 2024, after an extension past the original June 30, 2024 deadline. Eligible lots inside the Urban Containment Boundary may hold 3 or 4 units by lot size. The Township currently has no prescribed frequent-bus tier, so the provincial 6-unit minimum is not mapped onto ordinary residential lots.

Township parking on SSMUH lots is a minimum of one space per unit and two spaces per lot. Properties that fail the eligibility list (no sewer, heritage designation, over 4,050 m2, outside the Urban Containment Boundary, or inside a TOA) fall back to one home plus one suite or one ADU.

The Township’s one designated TOA is the 800-metre radius around the planned Surrey-Langley SkyTrain station on 196 Street in Willowbrook, designated by provincial order on May 2, 2025. Inside that ring the minimum heights run from 8 to 20 storeys by distance, which is a different product than a fourplex.

City of Langley

The City of Langley adopted Bylaw No. 3284 on June 17, 2024 and added a “Plex-Home” use to the former RS1 and RS2 zones outside TOAs. Most eligible lots may hold 4 units. Lots within 400 metres of a frequent bus stop may hold 6. Companion parking rules set 1.5 spaces for a Plex-Home unit over 90 m² and 1.0 space at or under 90 m². No parking minimum applies within 400 metres of a qualifying stop.

The City also designated TOAs within 800 metres of two planned SkyTrain stations and 400 metres of the Langley Centre bus exchange. Those parcels are planned for mid-rise and high-rise, not a sixplex.

Exemptions that still block extra units

The 3-to-6 rule does not reach every residential parcel. The statute and the Local Government Zoning Bylaw Regulation carve out several classes.

•       Land not connected to both a municipal or regional water system and a sewer system.

•       A parcel larger than 4,050 m2, or a zone whose minimum new lot is larger than 4,050 m2.

•       Land protected under the Heritage Conservation Act, a heritage designation bylaw, or a heritage revitalization agreement in force when the rules landed.

•       A hazardous-condition area where a qualified professional certifies that more density would raise the risk and the hazard cannot be practically mitigated.

•       Land inside a designated Transit-Oriented Area, which is reserved for the higher Bill 47 densities.

•       Agricultural Land Reserve parcels, which stay under the Agricultural Land Commission Act.

•       Municipalities under 5,000 people, and land outside an urban containment boundary, which must still allow a suite or an ADU on restricted single-family lots.

Bill 25 tightened the definition of a restricted zone. If any parcel in the zone is limited to a house or a duplex, or to a house with a suite and a detached ADU, the whole zone is treated as restricted. Cities that tried to keep extra units off some lots by rewriting the zone label had to reopen those bylaws by June 30, 2026.

Parking, hearings, and the rest of the 2023 housing package

On six-unit lots, the Province prohibits local governments from requiring off-street parking or loading for the residential units that meet the six-unit minimum. Municipalities may still require accessible stalls in TOAs. They may still let an owner build parking if the market wants it.

Section 464(4) of the Local Government Act bars a public hearing on a zoning bylaw whose sole purpose is to comply with the SSMUH requirements. A hearing is also barred on an OCP-consistent zoning bylaw that is at least half residential. An OCP amendment itself can still go to a hearing. Neighbour opposition no longer stops a by-right fourplex that already matches the plan.

Bill 44 also forced a standard Housing Needs Report method and required municipalities to pre-zone for 20-year housing need. That is a separate clock from the lot-by-lot unit minimums, and it is why Official Community Plans across the Fraser Valley were rewritten through 2025 and 2026.

What this means if you are buying

A lot that can hold four titled units is not the same asset as a lot that can hold one house. Price, financing, insurance, and resale all move. If you are a first-time buyer hunting a house you will live in, start with the first-time home buyer path and treat extra density as option value, not a promise.

Walk the parcel with five questions before you write an offer.

1.    Is the lot inside the urban containment boundary and on both municipal water and sewer?

2.    What is the surveyed area in square metres? Under or over 280 m2 changes the floor from 3 to 4.

3.    Does any part of the lot sit within 400 metres of a prescribed frequent-bus stop, or inside a TOA?

4.    Do a building scheme, covenant, or strata rule cap the unit count below the zoning floor?

5.    Will the extra units be rental income, lock-off suites, or separately titled strata? Lenders treat those files differently.

If you already own and want a current value that reflects the new zoning, request a home value review. If you plan to sell into the multiplex buyer pool, the listing strategy on selling your home should state the permitted unit count, not a hoped-for count.

What this means if you already own

You can keep the house you have. You can add a suite or an ADU where the zone allows it. You can apply to build a triplex or fourplex if the lot clears the eligibility tests and the Building Code.

The market now prices optionality. Two similar 6,000 sq. ft. lots can trade at different numbers if one is 90 metres from a Schedule F stop in Surrey and the other is a Township lot with a one-space-per-unit parking rule and no six-unit tier.

Servicing is the usual blocker. A fourplex that the zone allows still fails if the water main, sanitary, or fire flow cannot support the extra fixtures. Budget a civil review before you budget a framing package.

How to confirm a specific address

Do not rely on a listing remark that says “Bill 44 lot.” Pull the municipal map and the title.

•       Surrey: COSMOS plus Schedule F of the Zoning Bylaw for frequent-bus lots.

•       Township of Langley: confirm UCB, servicing, heritage, and TOA status with Planning at cdinfo@tol.ca or 604-533-6034.

•       City of Langley: confirm whether the parcel is a Plex-Home lot or sits inside a SkyTrain / Langley Centre TOA.

•       Province: the SSMUH policy page and the Provincial Policy Manual set the floor every local bylaw has to meet.

•       Title: read the charges for building schemes, rent-restriction covenants, and heritage filings.

When you are ready to look at live inventory, start a home search or book a consult. The home buying process is the same. The due diligence list is longer.

FAQ

Does Bill 44 force me to build a fourplex?

No. The statute forces the zoning bylaw to permit the extra units. You can keep a single detached house on the same lot. A building permit is still required if you do decide to add units.

Is a 33-foot Vancouver-style lot treated the same as a 6,000 sq. ft. Surrey lot?

Only at the first cut. Both use the 280 m² line. Most Fraser Valley lots are well over that line, so the usual provincial floor is 4 units, or 6 if the lot is next to a prescribed stop. Setbacks, height, and parking then follow the local bylaw, which is why a Surrey frequent-bus lot and a Township Houseplex lot do not pencil the same.

Can the city still say no at a public hearing?

Not for a zoning bylaw whose only job is to implement SSMUH. Section 464(4) of the Local Government Act prohibits that hearing. A project that needs an Official Community Plan amendment, a variance that leaves the bylaw, or a rezoning that is not SSMUH-compliant can still face a hearing.

Do extra units help me qualify for a larger mortgage?

Only if the lender will count the rent and the building can legally contain those units. Accessory-suite income is often haircut. A fourplex on spec is a different file from a house with a legal suite. Review the numbers on the financing page before you bid as if four rents were already in place.

What is the difference between SSMUH and a Transit-Oriented Area?

SSMUH is gentle density on former house lots: 3, 4, or 6 units. A TOA is the 200 / 400 / 800 metre ring around a prescribed SkyTrain station or exchange, with minimum heights of 8 to 20 storeys in Metro Vancouver Category 1 stations. Land inside a TOA is exempt from the SSMUH 3-to-6 table because the Province already assigned it a higher density.

Did Bill 25 change the unit counts?

No. Bill 25 did not move the 3 / 4 / 6 numbers or the 280 m2 line. It widened the definition of a restricted zone so municipalities could not leave house-and-suite lots outside the SSMUH floor, and it gave local governments until June 30, 2026 to fix those bylaws.