BC guides › Delta · Last checked October 25, 2026
Can you build a coach house or ADU in Delta?
Yes, on most house and duplex lots in Ladner, Tsawwassen and North Delta. Delta uses two names. A coach house is a small home built together with a garage. A Garden Suite is a small home on its own in your yard, with no garage. Both are “detached accessory dwelling units” (ADUs): extra homes that belong to your main house.
- Up to 2 backyard homes per lot, and up to 4 homes in all on most lots
- Each one must be less than half the floor area of your house
- Coach house up to 2 storeys and 8 m (26 ft). Garden Suite up to 1.5 storeys and 5.5 m (18 ft)
- At least 1.5 m (5 ft) from the side and back lot lines
- No rezoning. You go straight to a building permit
Will it fit on your lot?
Enter your address. We check your lot size, zone and how many homes it can have, free by email.
Can I build one on my property?
This guide covers the City of Delta only. Tsawwassen First Nation land has its own laws.
1. Your lot needs a house or duplex zone. Since June 2024, Delta’s zoning bylaw lets you add backyard homes on lots inside the Urban Containment Boundary (the line around Delta’s towns) where the zone allows a house or a duplex. That covers the RS and RD zones and many custom (CD) zones. Your zone’s own page in the bylaw may still list only a secondary suite. The newer general rule still applies.
2. Your lot has a home limit. All homes count: the house, any suite and any backyard homes.
- Lot of 280 m² (3,014 sq ft) or less: up to 3 homes
- Bigger lot: up to 4 homes
- Bigger lot in Delta’s Frequent Transit Area near Scott Road: up to 6 homes
3. Your lot has to have room. Setbacks (how far a building must stay from the lot lines), lot coverage and floor area limits still apply. Delta’s own design catalogue warns that what fits depends on your lot.
Rural and farm lots are different. Outside the Urban Containment Boundary (and not in the Agricultural Land Reserve), you can have a house, one suite and one coach house or Garden Suite. Farm land in the Agricultural Land Reserve follows farm rules instead.
From June 2024 to the end of 2025, Delta issued building permits for 169 coach houses and Garden Suites.
Delta coach house rules at a glance
| Rule | Delta (house and duplex lots in town) |
|---|---|
| What it’s called | Coach house (built with a garage) or Garden Suite (no garage) |
| How many | Up to 2 backyard homes, within your lot’s limit of 3, 4 or 6 homes |
| Size | Less than 50% of your house’s floor area (an attached garage doesn’t count), and it must fit your lot’s total floor area limit |
| Coach house height | 2 storeys; 6.75 m (22 ft) to mid-roof or a flat roof; 8 m (26 ft) to the peak |
| Garden Suite height | 1.5 storeys; 4 m (13 ft) to mid-roof or a flat roof; 5.5 m (18 ft) to the peak |
| Distances | 1.5 m from the side, side-street and back lot lines; 1.5 m from the house; not in front of your house |
| Parking | 1 space per home. None for a home of 33 m² (355 sq ft) or less, or in the Frequent Transit Area near Scott Road |
| Lot coverage | Set by your zone: 40% to 45% in the house and duplex zones |
| Sell it separately | Not confirmed. Plan on keeping it |
| Airbnb | Not confirmed for Delta. BC’s principal-residence rule applies |
Which zones? Lots inside Delta’s Urban Containment Boundary whose zone allows a house or duplex: the RS and RD zones and many CD zones. Rural lots get one backyard home; farm (ALR) lots follow farm rules. Your free Site Report checks your zone for you.
Get my free Site ReportWhat will it cost, and what could it earn?
On top of the build itself, Delta has three main charges:
- Building permit. A $475 application fee, plus a permit fee based on the build’s value. For example, a build worth over $150,000 pays $2,240 plus $11.98 for each extra $1,000. Good news: right now Delta gives back 100% of the building permit fee for coach houses and Garden Suites. This rebate runs until May 5, 2028, or until its money runs out, whichever comes first. Plumbing permits and inspection fees are not covered.
- Development cost charges (DCCs). These are one-time charges that help pay for roads, pipes and parks. Since January 1, 2026, Delta’s charge for a low-density home is $19,844 per home. We could not confirm that a coach house or Garden Suite pays this full rate. A very small home (29 m², about 312 sq ft, or less) may not have to pay.
- Regional charges. Metro Vancouver and TransLink add their own DCCs. We could not confirm the amount Delta collects for a backyard home. Ask the ADU Concierge Service at 604-946-3380.
Before anyone can live in it or rent it, you need Delta’s ADU occupancy permit. The money comes from long-term rent or from housing family. Your free report works out the numbers for your lot.
Your free Delta Site Report includes:
- Your PID, real lot size and zone
- Whether your lot can have 3, 4 or 6 homes
- A drawing of your lot’s shape and size
- Rough build cost and City charges for the size you want
- Permit steps and ways to pay for it
Featured builder: Delta
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Common questions
Can I rent it on Airbnb?
We could not confirm Delta’s own rule. Here is what we know. BC’s principal-residence rule applies in Delta. It allows short-term rentals only in the home you live in, plus one secondary suite or backyard home on the same property. Each unit must be registered with the Province. But BC says local bylaws can be stricter. Delta’s zoning lists bed and breakfast only on farm lots, and we found no Delta rule that allows nightly rental of a coach house or Garden Suite. Ask the City at 604-946-3380 before you count on it.
How big can it be?
There is no single number. Two rules work together. First, each backyard home must be less than half the floor area of your house (an attached garage doesn’t count). Second, your zone gives your lot one total floor area limit for all buildings, worked out from the lot size. The first 42 m² (452 sq ft) of each coach house or Garden Suite does not count toward that lot limit. For a feel, Delta’s design catalogue shows a 50 m² (540 sq ft) and a 70 m² (750 sq ft) Garden Suite and a 159 m² (1,716 sq ft) coach house, which it says meet its zoning.
Can I put it over my garage?
Yes. That is exactly what Delta calls a coach house: a home built together with a garage in the same backyard building. A coach house can be 2 storeys and 8 m tall, while a Garden Suite stops at 1.5 storeys and 5.5 m. Neither one can have a basement or a roof deck.
Can I have a suite in my house and a backyard home?
Yes. You can have one secondary suite in your house plus up to two backyard homes, as long as the total stays under your lot’s limit of 3, 4 or 6 homes. You can’t put a secondary suite inside the coach house or Garden Suite itself.
Can I sell it on its own?
We could not confirm this. Delta’s bylaw treats a coach house or Garden Suite as an extra home that belongs to the main house, and Delta says a secondary suite cannot be strata-titled or sold. Plan on keeping it, and ask the City at 604-946-3380 if selling matters to you.
Do I need a parking spot?
Usually 1 space for each home. You don’t need one for a home of 33 m² (355 sq ft) or less, or if your lot is in Delta’s Frequent Transit Area near Scott Road. Your free Site Report tells you if your lot is in that area.
How do I get a permit?
First, book Delta’s free ADU Concierge Service (ADU@delta.ca or 604-946-3380). Staff will look at whether a coach house or Garden Suite could work on your lot. Next, have a designer draw your plans to the zoning bylaw and the BC Building Code. Then apply online through Delta’s MyCity portal and upload your drawings for review. Pay the fees, build with inspections, and get your ADU occupancy permit. A home that meets the rules needs no rezoning, no public hearing and no Council vote.
Will the rules change?
Maybe later. In 2025 Delta asked people about bigger changes, like dropping floor area limits and merging its house zones. In April 2026 staff told Council they will keep watching how today’s rules work and will draft a new “houseplex” zone (3 or 4 homes in one building) for Council to look at later. Always confirm with the City before you design.
See what fits on your Delta lot
General information only. Rules checked 25 October 2026. Rules change, so always confirm with the City of Delta before you build.
Sources: Delta Zoning Bylaw No. 7600, 2017 (consolidated April 2026) · City of Delta: Coach Houses and Garden Suites · Coach Houses and Garden Suites brochure (October 2025) · ADU Design Catalogue · Development Cost Charges Bylaw No. 7560 (effective January 1, 2026) · Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 8386, Schedule 3 · Fees and Charges Amendment Bylaw No. 8515, 2025 (permit rebate program) · Council report: SSMUH Phase 2 update, April 27, 2026 · City of Delta: Secondary Suites · BC principal residence requirement