Soaring real estate costs are pushing some Canadian cities
to embrace laneway housing, touted as the future of affordable living in urban
centres.
But as the properties become more popular and balloon in
value, questions are beginning to arise about whether current insurance
practices are sufficient.
Home insurer Square One Insurance says it has been fielding
so many recent calls about laneway homes - most of them in Vancouver - that
it's started offering a separate product created specifically for the
structures.
Daniel Mirkovic, the company's president and chief
executive, says in the past, laneway homes or coach houses were often $50,000
conversions of detached parking garages created by homeowners to house their
adult children.
