'Monstrosities' or the evolution of housing? Multi-unit buildings on single-family lots gain traction in B.C. cities

Multi-unit developments on single-family lots are increasing in B.C. neighbourhoods dominated by single-detached houses

By Dan Fumano
Published Jan 31, 2026
Last updated 2 days ago
13 minute read
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Akua Schatz, co-owner of Smallworks, in front of one of the multi-unit developments the company is constructing in Vancouver.
Akua Schatz, co-owner of Smallworks, in front of one of the multi-unit developments the company is constructing in Vancouver. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /10110469A

Byron Cook has lived in the same house in North Burnaby for more than four decades. He loves his neighbourhood and knows it like the back of his hand.

Lately, he’s dismayed at the new buildings going up. He calls them “monstrosities,” a wave of three- and four-storey buildings with three or four homes in each, mostly replacing old post-Second World War bungalows and looming over neighbouring houses.