Coach Houses in Langley

In the Township's R-1A residential zone, a lot can hold one single-family house and one accessory dwelling unit, as long as the house has no secondary suite, so you can have a coach house or a suite in the house, but not both. The SR-1 Suburban Residential zone sets the same rule, subject to the Agricultural Land Commission Act where it applies, and the compact-lot R-CL(CH) zone allows a house and one coach house.

In R-1A, accessory dwelling units are not permitted in the front yard. Buildings can cover 35% of the lot, or 45% where they include infill housing: detached units added to a lot that keeps a single-family or two-family dwelling built before Bylaw No. 6020 was adopted on November 18, 2024. Within 6.0 m of the rear lot line, infill housing is limited to 4.5 m in height unless it is a coach house fronting a lane. Other dwelling units can reach 9.0 m, and a non-dwelling accessory building, such as a garage with nothing above it, stops at 3.75 m.

Lots that qualify for the Township's small-scale multi-unit housing rules can be developed under those rules instead. A property that does not qualify is eligible for one home plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit, depending on its zoning.

The Township's residential construction guide requires a building permit to construct any new building, and the plumbing is typically included on that permit. Electrical and gas permits come from Technical Safety BC. Where the Tree Protection Bylaw applies, the Township's Permits, Licences and Inspections Division must review and accept the application before any permit is issued.

The first inspection comes before construction starts, to confirm the waste containers, the tree protection fencing and the siltation control. Each inspection after that is requested through eInspections by 3:30 pm on the business day before, and the coach house can only be lived in once the final inspection is accepted and occupancy is authorized in writing.

The City of Langley adopted Zoning Bylaw No. 3300 on March 9, 2026, and it defines a carriage home as a secondary residential building behind the main house, no taller than two storeys or 6.8 m, whichever is less. The registered owner must live on the lot, the carriage home must sit at least as far from the front lot line as the house, and in the R1 zone its ground floor can reach 100 m² within the zone's maximum lot coverage of 36%.

R1 setbacks for a carriage home are 6.0 m at the front, 4.5 m at the rear and interior side, and 3.0 m on an exterior side. The 4.5 m drops to 3.0 m where the upper-storey windows facing those lot lines are clerestory windows. An R1 lot can carry up to four units, or six within 400 m of a frequent transit bus stop, and inside a Transit-Oriented Area the limit is the house plus one accessory unit.

About 75% of the Township lies in the Agricultural Land Reserve, where a unit over the garage counts as an additional residence under the Agricultural Land Commission's rules. One is allowed without an ALC application where local bylaws permit it, if only one residence stands when construction begins and the two are not attached. On parcels of 40 ha or less, the main house must be 500 m² or smaller and the additional residence 90 m² or smaller, and the form the ALC allows over a garage is a single-level carriage house above the main residence's detached garage. The Township has its own building permit type for an ALR second dwelling under 90 m².

On a septic lot, the coach house brings the sewerage system into the permit. The Township's septic referral form lists plumbed outbuildings and any net increase in bedrooms among its triggers, and the application needs a Fraser Health Record of Filing, or a referral form showing one in progress, before the permit is issued. Only an Authorized Person, either a professional engineer or a Registered Onsite Wastewater Practitioner, can design, install or inspect the system.

BC Housing treats a suite inside the house and a standalone accessory dwelling unit, such as a coach house, differently. A suite built inside the main house needs no home warranty insurance, while a coach house goes through the new-home process: it has to be enrolled in home warranty insurance before a building permit can be obtained. As the licensed builder, we register and enrol it, and the New Home Registration Form is the proof the Township or the City checks with your permit application.

Our new builds carry Travelers 2-5-10 home warranty insurance, with two years on labour and materials, five years on the building envelope and ten years on the structure.

Owner builders are exempt from licensing and warranty, but to get an Owner Builder Authorization you have to pass the Owner Builder Exam and build or directly manage the work yourself, and you carry personal liability for defects for 10 years.