R1: Suburban Residential

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

On a lot under 4,050 m²: up to 4 homes as a house or a duplex, with secondary suites, a coach house or a garden suite (3 homes, as a house, on a lot under 280 m²), or up to 6 on an eligible lot in a Frequent Bus Stop Area; inside a Transit-Oriented Area, up to 2. On 4,050 m² or more, up to 2: a house with a suite, coach house or garden suite. At most 2 on heritage-protected land or land not connected to community water or sewer (s. B.1)

Main uses

A house, or a duplex on a lot under 4,050 m²; a secondary suite, coach house or garden suite, bed and breakfast, boarders, short-term rental; on 4,050 m² or more a hobby kennel, and farming and growing on 2 ha or more (no poultry farm, mushrooms, pigs or mink)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

1,858 m², 30 m wide, 30 m deep; at most 5 lots per hectare

Lot coverage

House 40% on a lot of 560 m² or less, down 2 points for each 93 m² more to 25% (from 1,262 m²); with a coach house or garden suite 45%, down to 30%; duplex 50%, down to 35%; duplex with a coach house or garden suite 55%, down to 40%

Height limit

House 9 m (10 m in a floodplain); duplex 3 storeys and 11 m (12 m); coach house or garden suite 2 storeys and 7 m, roof peak 8.3 m (8.5 m); kennel and farm buildings 9 m; accessory buildings 4 m (5 m where roof and materials match the house)

Setbacks

House or duplex: front 7.5 m, rear 7.5 m, sides 4.5 m and street side 7.5 m on a lot over 1,500 m² (sides 1.8 m, street side 3.6 m on 1,500 m² or less). Coach house or garden suite: rear 1.8 m (1.0 m above a garage off a lane), sides 1.8 m, street side 2.4 m, 5.0 m from the main building, never in front. Accessory buildings over 10 m²: front 18 m, rear 1.8 m, sides 1.0 m, street side 7.5 m. Kennel and farm buildings (lots over 4,050 m²): front 36 m, rear and sides 7.5 m

Floor area (s. D.2): on 1,500 m² or less, a house may have a floor area ratio of 0.60 on the first 560 m² of lot and 0.35 on the rest, at most 465 m², 39 m² of it a garage or carport (not needed on an eligible lot in a Frequent Bus Stop Area); on a bigger lot 0.32. A duplex 1.0 on the first 560 m² and 0.60 on the rest, basements counted, at most 700 m² (750 m² on a lot over 1,500 m²). A house or duplex is at least 84 m² on the ground floor and 7 m wide.

A coach house or garden suite adds 35 to 75 m² of floor area (a coach house's garage not counted) on top of the main building's allowance, or up to 120 m² where the main building leaves some of its allowance unused (s. D.2).

On a lot where the floor area ratio applies, a house's second storey is at most 80% of the first (counting an attached garage and covered front porch), set back from the front or side walls so the step shows from the street; a duplex's second and third storeys at most 90% each (s. D.4).

Livestock, poultry and rabbits only on a lot of 0.4 ha or more: 2 livestock, 6 sheep or goats, 12 poultry (no roosters) for each 0.4 ha, sheltered 36 m from the front and street side and 7.5 m from the rear and sides; up to 4 hens on a lot of more than 669 m² and under 0.4 ha (Part 4, s. B.12).

The number of homes follows the Province's small-scale multi-unit housing rules as the zone's own table writes them: whether a lot is inside a Transit-Oriented Area, or an eligible lot in a Frequent Bus Stop Area (Schedule F of the bylaw), changes the count. We don't read those maps, so ask the City which applies to this lot.

In a floodplain (Part 8), a main building may be taller (the higher figures above) where its ground floor is only parking or other space nobody lives in, and only flood-resistant materials go below the flood construction level.

Every use the zone allows depends on City sewer, water, drainage and road works being in place and adequate; where they aren't, the lot may be used only as the A-1 zone allows until the owner extends them on the City's terms (Part 2, ss. B and C; Part 4, s. B.4).

Bed and breakfast: at most 6 guests in 3 bedrooms, with the owner living in the home; boarders or lodgers: at most 2 per home, owner living there; at most 6 guests for both together (Part 4, s. B.7).

Short-term rental only where the owner of the lot lives on it as their principal residence: in the house or the homes of a multi-unit building, and in at most one secondary suite, coach house or garden suite per lot (Part 4, s. B.7(d)).

A secondary suite is a home inside a house or duplex, at most 40% of the floor area of the home it belongs to, never its own strata lot and not allowed in a houseplex. A coach house sits above or beside a detached garage; a garden suite is a ground-level home of its own; both belong to the main building on the lot (Part 1 definitions).

Uses the zone doesn't list aren't allowed (Part 2, s. A).

Site-specific exceptions listed in the bylaw by legal description can add or change uses for one property, and development permit areas, the ALR and building rules apply on top. Confirm with the City of Surrey's planning and development department before you buy or build.

Source: Part 13 of Surrey Zoning By-law, 1993, No. 12000 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-04); zone map: Open Government Licence – Surrey.