R5S: Special Compact 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, short-term rental; and, run by someone living in the house or duplex and never the only use on the lot, a small shop, office, personal or general service, or café or restaurant (no body rub parlours, escort services, methadone clinics, funeral parlours, banks, veterinary clinics, convenience stores, pawnshops, secondhand stores, adult entertainment, drive-throughs or liquor-licensed restaurants) (ss. B.1, B.2)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

291 m², 9.7 m wide, 30 m deep (a narrow lot 324 m², 9.0 m wide; on a corner or flanking lane 369 m² and 12.8 m wide, or a narrow one 363 m² and 10.5 m wide, 36 m deep); at most 31 lots per hectare (ss. C.1, D.1)

Lot coverage

House 52% (60% with a coach house or garden suite); duplex 62% (65%) (s. E)

Height limit

House 9.5 m, 7.3 m with a flatter roof (10.5 m in a floodplain); duplex 3 storeys and 11 m, 9.3 m with a flatter roof (12 m); coach house or garden suite 2 storeys and 7 m, roof peak 8.3 m, 6.5 m with a flatter roof (8.5 m); accessory buildings 3 m (5 m where roof and materials match the house); structures 3 m

Setbacks

House: front 3.5 m (2.0 m to a covered porch), rear 6.5 m, sides 1.2 m, street side 2.7 m (1.2 m to a covered porch). Duplex: front 3.5 m (2.0 m to a covered porch), rear 6.5 m, sides 1.2 m, street side 2.4 m (1.2 m to a covered porch); the table's first heading names duplexes too and gives them 2.7 m, so which street side figure applies is unclear: ask the City. Coach house (only on a lot with a lane): rear 0.5 m, sides 0 m, street side 1.2 m. Garden suite: rear and sides 1.2 m with a lane (1.8 m without), street side 1.8 m. Both 5.0 m from the main building (3.0 m to stairs or a deck of up to 10 m²), never in front. Accessory buildings over 10 m²: not in front, rear 0.5 m, sides 0 m, street side 1.2 m, 5.0 m from the house or duplex (s. F)

Floor area (s. D.2): a house at most 217 m² not counting the basement, 39 m² of it a garage or carport; a duplex at most 350 m² counting basements, 44 m² of garage or carport (neither needed on an eligible lot in a Frequent Bus Stop Area). A coach house or garden suite adds 35 to 75 m² on top (a coach house's garage not counted).

Floor area here counts garages and covered parking, and any part taller than 3.66 m twice; stairs, 10 m² of each main building and space under a sloped ceiling lower than 4.58 m are left out (s. D.3).

The shop, office, service or café takes at most 30% of the floor area of the house, or of each home in a duplex, basement and garage counted (s. D.4).

Driveways only from a rear lane; at most 2 parking spaces in a garage or carport; at most 2 vehicles parked outdoors and no campers, boats or trailers (s. H).

At least 30% of the lot porous; at least 70% of the front yard planted, and at least 32 m², 4 m by 4 m, between the main building and the rear lot line (s. I).

A flatter roof is one with any part sloped less than 1 in 4 (s. G).

The zone replaced RF-10S and RF-9S; bylaws that name those zones now mean R5-S (Part 3, s. C).

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).

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 17A of Surrey Zoning By-law, 1993, No. 12000 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-04); zone map: Open Government Licence – Surrey.