The City of Surrey says it is making progress in cracking down on homeowners who build without permits.
The city says it has already issued more than $50,000 in fines for illegal builds.
The city has also been targeting illegal builds by using its authority to issue a “notice on title” to offending properties, which tells the public, would-be buyers, lenders and insurers about unauthorized structures or work on a home.
In its most recent action, the city slapped a notice on title on a property in the Royal Heights area, where it says the owner built an unpermitted addition to the rear of the house with two new units — despite a stop-work order being in place.
No one answered the door when Global News visited the home, but at a recent council meeting the owner denied knowledge of the stop-work order.
“You know, we have seen homes built in barns, we have seen a single-family residential home turned into eight units, we have seen carports being developed into housing — this is not suitable housing for people,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke.
“This is really about the safety of those homes that people are living in, sometimes children. And so we just want to make sure that our housing in our city is safe for everybody.“
The city has issued 11 notice on titles so far since last year.
Locke said none of them have been removed yet, but that some of the owners have applied for permits to begin bringing the properties up to code.
“From that perspective, it is working. It is forcing people to become compliant, which is really all we’re asking for,” she said.
The city says it is operating under a zero-tolerance approach to illegal builds.
As for the property in Royal Heights, the city said it does not see a realistic path for the owners to get a permit for the already constructed structures because inspections are impossible, meaning the addition will likely have to be demolished.