Surrey Council approves guaranteed timelines for building and rezoning permits

SURREY City Council has approved a guaranteed permitting timeline to minimize the wait time between applying and receiving a building or rezoning permit.

More than 36,000 housing units have been created in Surrey over the last decade and the demand remains high. Even during a pandemic, the City recorded a building permit value of $1.46 billion, beating the 10-year annual average

“The guaranteed permitting timeline addresses a significant issue that builders have, which is when will they know if the permit has been approved or not,” said Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum. “Surrey has proven to be a prime destination for new residents and businesses. That’s why Council has taken this significant step to improve the speed and predictability in the land development approval process. The guaranteed timeline will result in less idle time for builders and more accurate completion dates for people looking to move into their new home or business space.”

Staff will be implementing the following guaranteed permitting timelines:

Rezoning Report to Council – Single Family 12 weeks
Rezoning Report to Council – Multi Family, Commercial and Industrial 16 weeks
Building Permit – Single Family1 10 weeks
Building Permit – Tenant improvement 10 weeks

Demand for single family and townhouse homes in Surrey remain strong. There has also been a shift to low, mid and high rise apartments. From January 2019 to December 2020, single family homes accounted for 31% of new construction, townhomes for 21%, high rise apartments for 31% and low to mid rise apartments for 17%.

The full Corporate Report can be viewed here.