Liam Gill does not describe himself as a developer, however that hasn’t stopped him from taking a place in Toronto’s development landscape. Now, the lawyer and tech entrepreneur wants to help others do the same with his Citizen Designer’s Guide, released Wednesday morning in collaboration with More Neighbours Toronto.
The guide is designed for individuals like Gill– those without a formal background in property development, however with an interest in densifying their own home or financial investment residential or commercial property. Throughout the file, Gill strolls readers through how to estimate develop expenses, capital forecasts, and ultimate market value, and go about the zoning, permitting, and funding processes.Gill has firsthand experience browsing Toronto’s preparation and development system. In September 2024, he began what would be a nearly year-long approvals process to convert a single-family home near Eglinton West station into a 10-unit apartment building. The job leverages Toronto’s Significant Streets reform, which enables 6 floors on designated passages (as-of-right), and was authorized by the Committee of Change in December 2025.
“This guide belongs to my work to solve the real estate lack,” writes Gil. “After acquiring a single-family home, when confronted with the decision to renovate it and live there, just [my partner] and I, or to convert it into a 10-unit apartment where [we] might deal with nine other households, the choice was basic. When my friends who are nurses, teachers, attorneys, accountants can barely manage their lease, it felt self-centered to live in a single-family home.”
Liam Gill is a legal representative and tech business owner who consults with Torontonians looking to transform under-densified properties/More Neighbours Toronto
Beyond 6 floors on Major Streets, the City also introduced as-of-right permissions for multiplexes with as much as four systems in all neighbourhoods in May 2023, and in June 2025, fiveplex and sixplex permissions were encompassed nine wards across the city.These zoning modifications come with their caveats, nevertheless. As Gill explains in the guide, multiplex developments just receive business funding if there are at least 5 units on the site, which implies a fourplex advancement would need to be supplemented by a garden suite in order to take advantage of a CMHC-backed program. He also discusses how fiveplexes and sixplexes are restricted by Toronto lot sizes, and are expected to provide mainly to one- or two-bedroom units, rather than the three-bedroom systems that families in Toronto so sorely need.Even so, this is
the’ missing middle ‘real estate typology that Gill thinks will be essential as Toronto comes to grips with its housing scarcity and price crises.
“If you own a rental apartment, the profits from its sale can money a 5-10 system home development,” Gill writes. “Our city is home to numerous investor who have more than $750,000 in equity in rental residential or commercial properties. All of them have the opportunity to utilize their existing equity to produce more real estate units and help resolve Toronto’s real estate crisis.”
He makes a comparable case for owner-occupiers, who may find the idea of converting their family home into a multiplex “absurd.”
“However, if you plan to age in place, your home will likely require remodellings and changes to accommodate your changing requirements. In addition, you have most likely already felt the capture of increasing real estate tax and may have even considered downsizing when your kids leave or have actually left the home,” says Gil. “Converting your existing house into a 5-10 system property provides an alternative option that (i) assists resolve the housing crisis, (ii) enables you to age in location, and (iii) produces rental income to balance out increasing expenses.”