You can now build a garden suite in your back yard without having to go through a rezoning application.

The City of Victoria is hoping the change will help to ease the rental housing crunch in the city.

Mayor Lisa Helps say the process has been streamlined."You can just do it two hundred bucks and a permit from our staff, it's very exciting."

There a size and height restrictions that need to be adhered to but the city has cleared away much of the red tape that stopped some people from moving forward with plans for garden suites.

There are more than six thousand single family homes in Victoria with the potential to build one of these suites.