Joel DyckReal Broker SK Ltd.
Saskatoon · From the topic map

What is an ADU and can I add one to a Lakeview home?

An ADU is the American term for a self-contained living space on the same lot as a house. Saskatoon calls the equivalent a secondary suite, and in Lakeview, a southeast neighbourhood built out through the 1970s and 1980s around larger family lots, the City of Saskatoon's zoning bylaw generally allows one if it gets a building permit.

The permit is what separates a legal suite from a finished basement with a hot plate in it. Saskatoon requires a permitted suite to have its own entrance in most cases, code-compliant egress windows and ceiling height, and working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, checks a lender relies on before counting the space as income-producing square footage.

Lakeview's larger, established lots that came with the 1970s and 1980s build-out tend to have more room for a suite than a narrower inner-city lot, but lot size alone does not guarantee approval; parking, existing structures and the specific zoning designation on that address still decide it, and a buyer's eventual home inspection, typically $400 to $600, often catches an unpermitted suite before financing closes.

Get it permitted and a Lakeview secondary suite becomes real, financeable value; skip the permit and it is a renovation that cost real money but reads as nothing to a lender or an appraiser. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.

Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.

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