Norfolk County: questions buyers ask
What records explain additional residential dwelling units at a Norfolk County home?
Section 3.2.3 of the County's Zoning By-law 1-Z-2014 (working consolidation of February 2026) and the County's building permit guide for additional residential dwelling units.
Sources checked October 29, 2026
The rule in Norfolk County
Up to 3 homes on a lot
Norfolk County zoning by-law 1-Z-2014 s.3.2.3: permits up to three dwelling units on a lot in R1 to R4, RH and A zones, the main home plus one interior and one detached additional residential dwelling unit; additions and detached units up to 75 m²; one parking space each; none in a vacation or seasonal home or a farm building.
From Norfolk County by-law 1-Z-2014 s.3.2.3, checked 29 Oct 2026
- The recordAdditional residential dwelling units
- Where to read itAdditional Residential Dwelling Units (ARDU); Zoning and 1 more
- The free check reads itPick “Extra units allowed”
What the record shows
Section 3.2.3 of Zoning By-law 1-Z-2014 permits additional residential dwelling units with single detached, semi-detached and street townhouse dwellings in the Urban Residential R1 to R4, Hamlet Residential (RH) and Agricultural (A) zones, to a maximum of three dwelling units per lot: the primary dwelling unit, one interior unit and one detached unit; two interior or two detached units are not permitted. An interior unit may occupy the whole basement, while an addition built for one, or a detached unit, is limited to 75 m² of usable floor area; a detached unit stands within 40 metres of the primary dwelling and at least 1.2 metres from the interior side and rear lot lines, and the County's guide gives its maximum height as 5 metres in urban residential zones, 6 in hamlet residential and 8 in agricultural zones. Each unit needs one more parking space, which may be in tandem, and at least half the front yard stays landscaped open space.
The by-law does not permit an additional unit in a vacation home or any other dwelling intended for vacation, recreation, seasonal or short-term accommodation, in a farm building or an on-farm diversified use, or on a lot with a boarding, lodging or rooming house, and a lot may not have both a detached unit and a garden suite. Units may be served by municipal water and wastewater or by a private well and septic system; the County's guide says only one municipal connection and water meter is permitted per property and septic holding tanks are not. A general permission does not make an existing basement apartment lawful; the building permit and inspection records are where that is answered.
Where to read it yourself
- Additional Residential Dwelling Units (ARDU): the County's building permit guide: zones, sizes, parking and servicing
- Zoning: the County's zoning page, schedules and proposed updates
- Zoning By-law 1-Z-2014: the working consolidation of February 2026, section 3.2.3 (PDF)
What OfferDue covers in Norfolk County
Extra units allowed is in the free check as a summary of the County's rule, from our hand-kept table of city rules, and the full report reads the lot's zone where the County's zoning map is open data we can use; where it isn't, the report's line says where the County publishes it. Neither is confirmation that a particular unit holds a permit or may be occupied.
Free check: pick “Extra units allowed” See the sample report
Public-record information, not legal, financial, insurance or inspection advice. Records change and can be incomplete, and this page describes the records, not any particular home. What we cover, city by city.