An interactive map of every lot in Richmond, coloured by how many homes it can hold under Bill 44. Richmond reaching six units takes both a lot over 281 m² and a prescribed frequent-transit stop within 400 m, so the six-unit band is much narrower here than the headline suggests.
Click any lot to see its zone, its unit count, the rule behind that number, and a link to the full bylaw-cited report.
Bands come from the City of Richmond's own zoning and lot-size data joined to the prescribed transit stop list, then checked against Richmond Zoning Bylaw 8500. Townhouse, apartment, and commercial zones are FSR-driven with no countable unit figure, so they sit in the last band and the report gives the buildable area instead.
Every figure on this map is a starting point, not a permit. Actual capacity for a given site depends on lot dimensions, corner and lane conditions, easements, and form of development. Run the address for the cited, per-lot answer.
Most former single-family lots in Richmond now allow up to 4 dwelling units on a standard lot larger than 280 m², and 3 units on a smaller lot. Up to 6 units is possible, but - unlike most Metro Vancouver cities - Richmond ties the 5th and 6th units to an affordable-housing density bonus on qualifying lots near frequent transit. Run your address to get the figure for your specific parcel.
Richmond created a dedicated RSM (Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing) zone to implement Bill 44, applied to former RS1/RS2 single-detached lots. It comes in four lot-size categories - RSM/S, RSM/M, RSM/L, and RSM/XL. The older RD1 (Two-Unit Dwellings) zone also carries the small-scale multi-unit rules. If your property is in one of these, a multiplex is permitted outright.
No. In the RSM and RD1 zones, small-scale multi-unit housing is a permitted use, so an eligible project proceeds to development and building permits rather than a discretionary rezoning. You still have to meet the zone's floor-area ratio, coverage, height, and setback rules - and, for 6 units, the affordable-housing requirement.
Richmond structured its RSM zone so that going from 4 units to 6 is a density bonus. To build the 5th and 6th units on a qualifying lot, the owner must either pay a set contribution into the City's affordable housing reserve or provide affordable units on site. It is the main way Richmond's Bill 44 rollout differs from Surrey, Burnaby, and Vancouver, where the 6-unit tier is driven purely by transit proximity.
A few situations hold the number down: a lot of 280 m² or less caps you at 3 units; a lot not connected to municipal water and sewer, or a heritage-protected property, can fall back to fewer units; and land inside the Agricultural Land Reserve is outside the SSMUH framework entirely. Lots inside a Provincial Transit-Oriented Area are also excluded - they follow higher-density transit rules instead.