How Many Units Can You Build on a Delta Lot?

Delta did not create new small-scale zones. It wrote small-scale multi-unit housing straight into Zoning Bylaw 7600 as an overlay on the zones you already have, behind three gates that decide whether your lot gets 3 units, 4, or 6.

Delta took a quieter route through Bill 44 than most of its neighbours. There are no new R-1 to R-4 zones and no citywide rezoning. Instead the province's Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing requirement sits in section 6.1.2(g) of Zoning Bylaw 7600 as a rule that overrides the unit count in the zones Delta already had.

The practical effect is that your zone is not the answer. An RS1 lot in Ladner and an RS1 lot on Westham Island carry the same zone and very different rights, because what decides your number is where the lot sits and how big it is.

The three gates that decide your number

Section 6.1.2(g) only reaches a lot that passes all three of these. Fail any one and the small-scale unit counts do not apply at all, and the zone's own density governs instead.

• Inside the Urban Containment Boundary. This is Delta's growth boundary, mapped as its own GIS layer. A lot outside it falls to section 6.1.2(h)(v) instead, which allows 3 units in a different mix.
• Not in the Agricultural Land Reserve. An A1 lot is governed by 6.1.2(h)(iv): 3 units, made up of one farm house, one secondary suite, and one accessory farm dwelling. The ALR overrides everything else here.
• In a zone whose principal uses name a single detached dwelling or a duplex. This is what separates the RS and RD zones from the townhouse zones, and it is a reading of the zone's use list, not an inference from its density.

Only once a lot is through all three does lot size set the count: 3 units at 280 m² or less, 4 units above 280 m².

When six units is actually on the table

Six units in Delta needs two things at once, and the second one catches people out. The lot has to be larger than 280 m², and it has to fall inside a Frequent Transit Area as mapped in Schedule F of the bylaw. A large lot with no Schedule F coverage stops at 4. A Schedule F lot at or below 280 m² stops at 3.

Delta's Transit-Oriented Area gives you parking relief, not units

This is the single most misread thing about development in Delta. Transit-Oriented Areas appear in Bylaw 7600 exactly twice, and neither mention is about density. Schedule D maps Transit-Oriented Area parking, and section 8.2.9 removes the standard resident and visitor parking requirement inside the shaded areas.

The additional height and density people associate with a Transit-Oriented Area in Delta come from the provincial Bill 47 framework, and they are reached through a rezoning application, not by right. If you are counting on a TOA to lift your unit number without an application, check that assumption before you buy.

What actually limits the building, once you have the count

Delta's RD zones price density off the use rather than the lot alone, which is unusual and easy to get wrong. In RD1, RD2 and RD3 a single detached dwelling gets lot area × 0.25 plus 93 m², while a duplex gets lot area × 0.30 plus 93 m². The duplex rate is the better one, but it is only available on a lot of at least 836 m². Below that threshold the lot is on the single-detached rate whatever the zone table's headline FSR suggests.

Rear yards in RD1 and RD3 also grow with the lot, at 0.6 m for every 1 m of average depth beyond 35 m. On a deep Delta lot that turns a nominal 9 m rear yard into something much larger, and it is the constraint that most often decides whether a fourth unit physically fits.

The Delta zones that carry small-scale multi-unit housing

Delta's townhouse and strata-house zones (RT40, RT50, RT62, RT76, TH-2 and RH40) are absent from this list on purpose. Section 6.1.2(g) applies only where the zone's principal uses name a single detached dwelling or a duplex, and those zones name neither.

Every Delta zoning district, A to Z

Delta Bill 44 FAQ

How many units can I build on my lot in Delta?

Inside Delta's Urban Containment Boundary, and in a zone whose principal uses include a single detached dwelling or a duplex, a lot of 280 m² or less allows 3 units and a lot above 280 m² allows 4. Six units is available only where the lot is above 280 m² and also sits inside a Schedule F Frequent Transit Area. Outside the Urban Containment Boundary, or on ALR land, the figure is 3 under a different section of the bylaw.

Which Delta zones allow small-scale multi-unit housing?

The single detached and duplex zones: RS1 through RS7, RSC, RD1 through RD4, and RA20. Delta's townhouse zones (RT40, RT50, RT62, RT76 and TH-2) and its strata-house zone RH40 do not, because section 6.1.2(g) only applies where the zone's principal uses name a single detached dwelling or a duplex.

Did Delta create new zones for Bill 44 like Coquitlam and Surrey did?

No. Delta implemented Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing as section 6.1.2(g) of Zoning Bylaw 7600, a rule that overrides the unit count in its existing zones. Your zone code did not change, and your zoning map did not change, but the number of units the zone allows did.

Does a Transit-Oriented Area in Delta let me build more units?

Not by right. Inside Bylaw 7600 a Transit-Oriented Area appears only as Schedule D parking relief under section 8.2.9, which waives the standard resident and visitor parking requirement. The extra height and density associated with provincial Transit-Oriented Areas come through a rezoning under the Bill 47 framework, not automatically.

What if my Delta property is in the Agricultural Land Reserve?

The ALR overrides the small-scale rules. An A1 lot is limited to 3 dwelling units under section 6.1.2(h)(iv): one farm house, one secondary suite, and one accessory farm dwelling. Provincial ALR rules also cap the size of the residence itself, separately from anything in Delta's bylaw.

My lot is outside the Urban Containment Boundary. What do I get?

Section 6.1.2(h)(v) applies instead of 6.1.2(g), and it allows 3 units in its own mix. This is the gate that is easiest to miss, because nothing about the zone code on your title tells you which side of the boundary you are on.

Why does my RD1 lot allow less floor area than the FSR suggests?

Because RD1, RD2 and RD3 set density by use. A duplex is calculated at lot area × 0.30 plus 93 m², but only on a lot of at least 836 m². A smaller lot falls back to the single-detached rate of lot area × 0.25 plus 93 m², which is roughly 5% of your lot area less.

Next steps for your lot

• Run your address for the exact permitted unit count and buildable envelope.
• Delta Bill 44 map
• Delta zoning districts
• See what Surrey lots allow
• See what Richmond lots allow

Last reviewed September 2026.