Can I live in an RV or a tiny home on a BC property?

Question

Accepted Answer

Only where the local government's zoning allows it. Most zones list houses, suites and manufactured homes as homes, not RVs, so living in one on a lot usually needs the zone's own words or a temporary use permit. A tiny home on a foundation is a house and needs a building permit like any house. On farmland an RV or tiny home someone lives in counts as one of the lot's residences, and anywhere its sewage must go to a sewer, a permitted holding tank or a septic system. A report names the lot's zone and links the bylaw. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. An RV or a tiny home on wheels: A motorhome, camper, travel trailer or park model trailer is a vehicle in BC law, not a house: the Manufactured Home Act leaves out campers, trailers licensed or required to be licensed under the Motor Vehicle Act, and park model trailers built to the CSA's Z241 standard (Manufactured Home Regulation ss. 1, 4). A tiny home on wheels sold with an RV label (CSA Z240 RV) and licensed as a trailer is in the same place. Each is built to a vehicle standard rather than the BC Building Code, so a building permit can't make one a house; some building bylaws allow living in one only while a permitted house is being built (our reading of regional districts' own pages). A manufactured or factory-built home: A home built to the CSA's mobile home standard (Z240 MH) or its factory-built housing standard (A277) is a manufactured home: a new one must meet one of them to be sold (Manufactured Home Act s. 32, Regulation s. 2), and it must be registered to be sold or moved (s. 18). A tiny home on wheels with neither label nor a trailer licence still fits the Act's definition, a structure built to be lived in and to be towed or carried (s. 1), so it may need registering too (our reading). See manufactured homes. A tiny home on a foundation: Built on the lot or set on a foundation, a tiny home is a house: the BC Building Code applies, and where a building bylaw applies it needs a building permit like any house. Some zones set a smallest house width or floor area a tiny home can fail, and some count it as the lot's house or as a second home; the zone decides which. Who decides: The local government's zoning bylaw: it regulates the use of land, buildings and structures in each zone and can prohibit any use (Local Government Act s. 479). Most zones name houses, suites and manufactured homes as homes, not RVs. Many allow an RV only parked or stored; some allow staying in one a few days a month, while a permitted house is being built, or as farm worker housing. The answer is the zone's own text, its definitions included, and other bylaws (camping, building) can add limits. Our zone pages don't summarise RV rules, so read the bylaw itself. A temporary use permit: Where the zone doesn't allow it, a local government can issue a temporary use permit for a use its zoning doesn't permit, with conditions, in areas its community plan or zoning bylaw designates for temporary uses (Local Government Act ss. 492, 493). The permit lasts up to 3 years and can be renewed once (s. 497). Farmland (ALR): On ALR land a vehicle someone lives in, all year or part of it, counts as a residence (Agricultural Land Commission Act s. 1, ALR Use Regulation s. 29). A lot may have one residence (Act s. 20.1), a secondary suite inside it but never in a separate building (Regulation s. 31), and, where the lot has only one residence, one detached additional residence of 90 m² or less on a lot of 40 ha or less, 186 m² or less on a larger one (s. 34.3). So an RV or tiny home lived in beside a house takes that one additional residence; more needs the Commission's permission, and the Commission says any fill or gravel for an additional residence needs a notice of intent. For guests, the regulation counts a vehicle, trailer or tent on a campsite as a sleeping unit of agri-tourism accommodation, allowed on land classed as a farm: 10 units at most, under 5% of the parcel, seasonal or short-term only (s. 33). A zoning bylaw can be stricter than these rules, never looser. Septic and water: All household sewage from a structure on a lot must go to a public sewer, a holding tank or a septic system, never onto the land (Sewerage System Regulation ss. 2.1, 3). A holding tank needs a health officer's permit and must sit at least 15 m from a well, a septic system 30 m (ss. 3.1, 4); a septic system is built by an authorized person or under one's supervision (s. 6). An RV's tanks emptied on the ground are a health hazard under the regulation, and hooking one to a house's septic system adds to a system sized for the house: ask the health authority first (our reading). See septic setbacks. What it means for a buyer: An RV or tiny home someone lives in on the lot isn't allowed because it's there: ask the local government whether the zone allows it and whether it holds a permit, and on ALR land whether it counts as the lot's additional residence. A tiny home on wheels sold with the land may be a vehicle or a manufactured home; ask a lawyer or notary which, and whether it's registered.

Can I live in an RV or a tiny home on a BC property?

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