Given how heavily officials discussed the potential of garden suites in Toronto, it's surprising how little has changed since the alternative housing type was finally made legal in the city in 2022.

The zoning changes were slated to bring an influx of hopefully affordable self-contained secondary units onto the market, providing a new option for tenants outside of the typical condo apartments, dedicated rental buildings, and units in single-family homes. 

Suites were also meant to help homeowners in the city earn some extra income to cover often-unaffordable mortgage payments given the exorbitant cost of housing (coupled, now, with high interest rates) in the region.

But, data shows that in almost two years, fewer than six garden suites have popped up in the city — a huge letdown for something that was being touted as a sure means to densification.

“Toronto's first garden suite, which officially became occupied on August 1 (2023)…”https://t.co/ARXdWYQbpk

— Mark J. Richardson (@mjrichardson_to) March 12, 2024

While firms helping people bring their ideas for a garden suite to life have cited growing customer interest, the production of these homes within the city's bounds has been minimal, at least thus far.

But, per the CBC, even though only six units have been completed, another 57 are in the works, with 97 permits for garden suites now approved. In total, some 250 homeowners have applied for permits to build a secondary suite on their property for family or renters.

Also hopeful is that companies providing services for this housing type—unlike actual garden suites—are growing rapidly, such as Happi Builds, which specializes in prefabricated dwellings that are easy to assemble.

But, for the trend to really catch on, we'd need far more homeowners with the resources for, and interest in, adding accessory homes to their lot. The hundreds that have applied thus far pale in comparison to the more than 500,000 properties in T.O. that could meet the new criteria.

And, a few of those who have started construction are already facing issues from angry neighbours who see their projects as too large and unsightly.

Everybody: Cool laneway houses! Sounds great! Let’s do it!

Reality: Read page 33 of the laneway final report pic.twitter.com/NzSA1bUrpO

— IanKiar (@IanKiarrrrrrr) December 4, 2020

There is also the affordability issue: one two-bedroom, two-bathroom laneway house currently on the rental market is going for $3,600 per month, which is above the average price for this size, perhaps due to the high cost of lending money and building right now.

Other houses that are technically considered "laneway homes" — located on a public laneway and not exactly in the same vein as the secondary suites we're talking about here — have hit the real estate market for a staggering $2.3 million or far more.