Not condos. Not towers. Ground-oriented homes that look like the neighbourhood - with yards, space, and real roots. For the long-timers who built this community and the families who want to stay in it.
For decades, BC zoning left almost nothing between a single-family detached home and a condo tower. That gap - the "missing middle" - is where most families and downsizers actually want to live.
Missing middle housing means ground-oriented, multi-unit homes that sit in scale and character with the surrounding neighbourhood. Duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and small multiplexes - real homes with private entrances, often a yard, and the feel of a house rather than an apartment block.
BC's SSMUH legislation made this legal across Port Moody - and for the first time, homeowners can build it themselves, on their own lot, without selling to a developer.
Port Moody's housing crisis isn't random. It's hitting two very specific groups hardest - and missing middle housing is the answer for both of them.
Port Moody has an aging population of homeowners who've been here for 20, 30, 40 years. They want to downsize - their kids are gone, the big yard is too much - but they don't want a condo. They don't want to leave their street, their doctor, their community. They want something smaller, manageable, ground-level, with a bit of outdoor space. That option barely exists here.
A missing middle unit on a family lot - or a purpose-built smaller home - gives them exactly that. It also lets them stay close to family, sometimes on the same lot.
Young families love Port Moody - the schools, the trails, the inlet, the community feel. But detached homes are out of reach for most, and the townhouse market isn't a great compromise. Strata fees. Shared walls. No real yard. Rules about what you can do with your space. Not a long-term answer for a family with kids.
Missing middle units are typically larger than townhouses, have private outdoor space, and don't come with a strata council telling you what you can plant in the garden.
More housing doesn't have to mean more towers. Port Moody's character - the trees, the setbacks, the street-level feel - can be preserved while adding real density. Missing middle homes look like the neighbourhood. They sit at the same scale. They add families, not floors.
This is the kind of density that strengthens a community rather than changing what made it worth living in.
Every advantage that matters to the people Port Moody actually needs to house.
A well-designed multiplex unit can comfortably exceed the square footage of a strata townhouse - with better layout, real storage, and no shared hallways or lobbies eating into your space.
Ground-floor units typically have direct access to private outdoor space - a yard, a garden, a patio. The kind of outdoor connection that condos and most townhouses can't offer.
A four-unit multiplex on a residential lot can be designed to read as a large family home from the street. Same scale, same setbacks, same tree canopy. Not a tower, not a block.
Many SSMUH multiplexes are structured as fee-simple ownership - no strata corporation, no monthly fees, no strata council. You own your unit and the land under it.
For long-time Port Moody residents, missing middle is the option that lets them downsize without leaving. A smaller unit on the same street - or on their own lot - near family, near their community.
For the homeowner who builds it, a multiplex turns a single lot into multiple income-generating or wealth-building assets - without selling the property they spent decades paying off.
Each of these is now permitted on most Port Moody residential lots under SSMUH. The right type depends on your lot size, goals, and budget.
Two homes sharing a lot - either side-by-side or stacked. The gentlest density increase, with minimal impact on streetscape. Often the simplest to finance and build.
Three homes on one lot. Allows an owner to live in one unit and generate rental income from the other two - a popular strategy for homeowners who want to stay on their property.
Four homes. The sweet spot for many Port Moody lots - significant density increase while staying within house-scale design guidelines. Strong rental income potential.
Up to six units on lots near transit. Maximizes the wealth potential of larger lots while still using ground-oriented design. Full feasibility study required to confirm eligibility.
Free feasibility review. Dawar looks at your address before the call so you're not starting from scratch.