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Bill 44 in BC: What Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing Means in Surrey and Langley

Bill 44 changed what can be built on most single-family and duplex lots in BC. Here are the provincial rules, how Surrey, the City of Langley and the Township of Langley wrote them into their zoning, and what that means if you are buying an older lot.

By Shawn Kandola, PREC · Published November 5, 2026 · 8 min read

What Bill 44 is

Bill 44 is the Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act, 2023. It changed the Local Government Act so that cities must zone most single-family and duplex lots for small-scale multi-unit housing, which the Province shortens to SSMUH: houseplexes, duplexes with suites, coach houses and garden suites. The regulations and the Provincial Policy Manual followed on December 7, 2023.

Local governments had until June 30, 2024 to update their zoning bylaws, unless the Province granted an extension. They were not allowed to hold public hearings on bylaws made only to comply. A secondary suite or an accessory dwelling unit is now allowed in single-family zones across BC, including areas without municipal water and sewer. In 2025 the Province passed Bill 25, which tightened the definitions and required local governments to update their bylaws again by June 30, 2026.

How many homes, on which lots

The minimums apply to lots in single-family and duplex zones, in a municipality of more than 5,000 people, inside an urban containment boundary set by a regional growth strategy. 280 m² is about 3,014 square feet.

What can still stop a multiplex

The density rules only apply where the lot is connected to both a water system and a sewer system run by a municipality or regional district. Cities can also exempt land with a hazard that a qualified professional certifies cannot be practically mitigated, and land inside a Transit-Oriented Area, which falls under a separate law (Bill 47) with higher densities. Heritage protections carve out some lots, and the Township of Langley excludes lots larger than 4,050 m² (1 acre).

2 more limits matter to a buyer. Existing section 219 covenants on title still apply. And a city that was upgrading infrastructure could ask the Province for more time, to a date no later than December 31, 2030. By July 25, 2024, 15 local governments had asked for an extension; the Township of Langley's request was refused and it was given 90 days to comply.

Surrey: 9 new zones from July 8, 2024

Surrey adopted Bylaw No. 21281 on July 8, 2024, amending Zoning By-law No. 12000. It replaced 20 older single-family, semi-detached, gross density and duplex zones with 9 new ones, RA, R1, R2, R2-O, R3, R4, R5, R5-S and R6, across more than 72,000 lots inside the urban containment boundary.

Most of those lots can hold 3 or 4 homes through a mix of houseplexes, duplexes, coach houses, garden suites and secondary suites. On eligible lots between 281 m² and 4,050 m² inside the Frequent Bus Stop Areas mapped in Schedule F of the zoning bylaw, up to 6 are possible, and no garage or carport is required. The City's 2024 report counted over 13,000 lots in those areas, about 18% of all SSMUH lots.

Houseplexes, a single building with several principal homes, are limited to the R3 zone, which took over the old RF and RF-SS lots. The 2024 report proposed a minimum lot width of 18 metres and lane access for them. Surrey has adjusted the houseplex rules since, and a June 2026 staff report proposed loosening them again, so read the current bylaw for the specific lot.

City of Langley: plex-homes in RS1 and RS2

The City of Langley adopted Bylaw No. 3284, Zoning Bylaw Amendment No. 204, on June 17, 2024. It added a new use, the Plex-Home, to the RS1 and RS2 single-detached zones outside Transit-Oriented Areas: up to 4 homes on a lot, or 6 within 400 metres of frequent bus service. Houses with suites are still allowed.

Land within 800 metres of the 2 planned SkyTrain stations and 400 metres of the Langley Centre bus exchange sits in Transit-Oriented Areas instead, with minimum heights and densities and no residential parking minimum apart from accessible stalls. Parking for plex-homes was set by a follow-up bylaw, No. 3289.

Township of Langley: adopted November 18, 2024, with conditions

The Township adopted its SSMUH zoning on November 18, 2024. Its eligibility list is the most detailed of the 3. A lot must be inside the urban containment boundary, connected to both municipal water and sewer, no larger than 4,050 m², not designated heritage by bylaw and not inside a Transit-Oriented Area. The Township's only Transit-Oriented Area is around the proposed Willowbrook SkyTrain station on 196 Street, designated by the Province on May 2, 2025.

An eligible lot gets 3 homes at 280 m² or less and 4 homes from 280 m² to 4,050 m². The Township's page lists no 6 home option. Each SSMUH lot needs at least 1 parking space per home and at least 2 per lot, a building permit, and, since April 27, 2026, a development permit for form and character unless an exemption applies. Where water or sanitary capacity is short, upgrades must be finished before new service is connected. A lot that fails the tests keeps 1 house plus 1 secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit, depending on zoning.

Buying an older lot with Bill 44 in mind

For scale, the October 2026 benchmark for a typical detached home was $1,288,000 in Surrey Central and $1,448,100 in Langley, according to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board; the monthly Fraser Valley market report tracks how those move. When I walk an older Surrey lot with an investor, the lane and the nearest bus stop are the first 2 things to check, because they decide whether the lot is a 4 home site or a 6 home site. Then work through this list before you remove subjects:

• The zone and the lot size in square metres, from the City's SSMUH lookup or the Township's eligibility list.
• Lot width and lane access, if you want a houseplex in Surrey's R3 zone.
• Whether the lot is in a Frequent Bus Stop Area (Surrey's Schedule F) or within 400 metres of frequent service (City of Langley).
• Water and sewer connections, and whether the city expects upgrades before it connects more homes.
• Covenants and charges on title, which still apply.
• Development cost charges and amenity charges on each new home. Surrey council sent the Province a revised DCC bylaw in May 2026 that would cut residential rates by 7% to 9% from 2024 levels, so price these from the current schedule.
• Financing. CMHC insures owner-occupied homes of up to 4 units: 3 and 4 unit homes need at least 10% down, and a property you will not live in typically needs 20%.

Holding costs and the faster route

Planning and permits take time, and an older house left empty in Surrey or either Langley can be caught by the provincial vacancy tax. There is an exemption for property under construction or renovation when work proceeds without undue delay; the main site's speculation and vacancy tax guide covers it. Renting the existing house while you plan also works, as long as you follow the Residential Tenancy Act rules for landlords.

If you want rental income without a build, an existing duplex or a house with a suite is the shorter path. Compare the options in condo vs townhouse vs duplex, test the numbers with the cap rate and cash flow method, and look at duplexes for sale in Surrey.

This is general information, not legal, planning or financial advice. Zoning changes often, so confirm every rule with the city for the exact lot.

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