Jen St. Denis

Metro News Vancouver

The suites can be rented or used by the homeowner depending on the need to make cash or spread out.

A North Vancouver developer says the “lock-off” suites in a new townhome development will ease affordability concerns and help make homes more flexible for growing or shrinking families.

“A lot of people we’re dealing with say I’d be quite happy to live in a townhome, but what I really need is that mortgage helper from an older single family home and that usually comes in the form of a basement suite,” said James Askew, the President of rareEarth.

The townhomes are being built in the Moodyville neighbourhood of the City of North Vancouver, a single family home neighbourhood near the Lower Lonsdale shopping district. The municipality recently rezoned Moodyville to allow low-rise condos and townhomes.

The units are being built with a studio or one-bedroom suite in the basement that homeowners can either rent out to help pay their mortgage, or use themselves. It could also be used to house an aging parent, Askew said. The size of the rental suites range from 400 to 650 square feet.

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