Multiplex Types

What a triplex is, and how the three homes differ

A triplex is a building divided into three separate homes. Each has its own front door, its own kitchen and its own title, and each is owned by a different household. You buy one of the three.

The thing to understand about a triplex is that the three homes are almost never equivalent. An odd number does not divide neatly into a rectangular building, so one home usually gets something the others do not: the garden, the top floor, the corner, or the parking closest to the door. Choosing between them is most of the decision.

The short version

  • Three separate homes, three separate titles, three households sharing the building's costs.
  • The three homes are rarely equivalent, so compare them individually rather than treating the building as one product.
  • Shared costs divide three ways, which is easier on each household than a duplex and harder than a fourplex.
  • Three owners means decisions carry by majority, so a single dissenting owner cannot block everything.
  • Ask which home has the outdoor space and the step-free entrance before you decide which one you want.

How the three are usually arranged

There are two common arrangements and a lot of variation between them.

The first is three homes side by side, each running from the ground up over two or three floors. Each gets its own entrance from the street and a slice of the outdoor space. The middle home has neighbours on both sides, which matters for sound and for light, and it is usually priced accordingly.

The second is a ground floor home with two homes above, or two on the ground with one above. Here the ground floor home typically has the garden and step-free access while the upper homes get light and, on a sloping site, a view. Some triplexes combine both ideas, with one home occupying a side and the other two stacked on the remaining half.

None of these is standard. Ask for the strata plan, which shows what belongs to each home, and read it alongside the floor plans rather than relying on the listing description.

Why the three homes are not interchangeable

In a fourplex you can often find two homes that are near mirror images. In a triplex that is unusual, and it changes how you should shop.

One home will have the best outdoor space. One will have the easiest access from the street. One will be quieter. Rarely are these the same home. If your household has a specific need, such as somebody who does not manage stairs, that need eliminates most of the building and the choice becomes simple. If you have no such constraint, you are trading light against garden against price.

This is also why a triplex can be a good buy. The home that is least attractive to the widest pool of buyers, often the middle one or the one without the garden, may be priced below its neighbours while offering the same number of bedrooms. If the thing it lacks is something you do not need, that is a genuine saving rather than a compromise.

Three owners, and how decisions get made

A three home strata has a useful property that a duplex does not: a majority exists. Two owners agreeing can carry an ordinary decision, so one household cannot block everything indefinitely.

That does not make disagreement pleasant. In a building this small the owners are the council, and everybody knows how everybody voted. But it does mean that necessary maintenance can proceed, which is the practical protection buyers want.

The Strata Property Act sets out what kinds of decision need what level of support, and some matters need more than a simple majority. Ask the strata for its recent minutes before you buy. Two or three years of minutes will tell you more about how a building is run, and how the owners get on, than any brochure.

  • Ask for two or three years of strata minutes, not just the current budget
  • Ask what has been repaired recently and what is scheduled next
  • Check the contingency fund balance against the depreciation report
  • Find out whether any owner is behind on their fees
  • Ask which home each owner occupies, and whether any are let out

Costs, split three ways

Shared expenses in any strata are divided between the homes according to the schedule registered for that strata. Three homes carrying a roof is easier than two and harder than four, and that arithmetic is the honest summary of what changes between the formats.

What it does not tell you is the size of the bill, which depends on what the building has to maintain. A triplex with simple systems and no shared parking structure can be cheaper to run per household than a fourplex with more shared property. Compare the actual fees and the depreciation report rather than reasoning from the count.

There is no published benchmark for triplex prices or for what triplexes cost to run. Greater Vancouver's MLS® Home Price Index covers detached homes, apartments and townhouses, and multiplex is not one of its categories, so treat any average you are quoted as somebody's estimate.

Who a triplex suits

Buyers who want most of the space of a half duplex with the costs divided one more way. That is the core case, and on a Vancouver lot it usually means a three bedroom home with a small garden or a terrace.

It suits a family who has found the right neighbourhood and is choosing on price, because the variation between the three homes gives you a genuine range within one building. It suits buyers who want a strata small enough to know everybody and large enough to have a majority.

It is a weaker fit if you need the largest possible home, since a half duplex will generally give you more floor area on the same lot. It is also a weaker fit if the only home available in the building is the one that lacks the thing you need, which is why we tell buyers to shop for the home rather than for the building.

One pattern worth knowing about: in many triplexes the three homes come to market at different times, because the households buy at different points and sell at different points. If the home you want is not available today, it may be worth asking the strata whether anybody is thinking of moving. In a three home building that is a short conversation rather than a research project.

It is also worth thinking about how you would feel about the building in ten years. Three households is small enough that one change of ownership alters the character of the place. A building that works beautifully today because the three owners get on will feel different when one of them sells, and no amount of due diligence protects you from that. What protects you is a building whose finances are sound regardless of who lives there.

Check where the front doors are relative to each other. Three homes on one lot can be arranged so that all three doors face the street, or so that two open onto a shared path down the side of the building. The second arrangement means you pass a neighbour's windows every time you come home, which some households find neighbourly and others find wearing.

For two households buying together, a triplex has an obvious appeal: take two of the three homes and you have a majority between you. That is a real advantage and it comes with a caution, because the third owner will notice. A pair who always vote together can leave the remaining household feeling outnumbered, and a building this small runs on goodwill far more than it runs on votes.

It is also worth thinking about the building in ten years rather than today. Three households is small enough that one change of ownership alters the character of the place, and a building that works beautifully now because the three owners get along will feel different when one of them moves. What protects you is not the current neighbours; it is a strata whose finances are sound whoever lives there.

For families buying together, a triplex has an obvious appeal: two households take two of the three homes and have a majority between them. That is a genuine advantage and it deserves a word of caution, because the third owner will notice. A pair of owners who always vote together can make the third household feel outnumbered, and small stratas run on goodwill more than on votes.

Questions buyers ask

A triplex is a building divided into three separate homes, each with its own front door, its own kitchen and its own title, and each owned by a different household. Buying into a triplex means buying one of the three homes rather than the building. The three can sit side by side, stack, or combine both arrangements.
Rarely. An odd number does not divide neatly into a building, so one home usually has the garden, one has the easiest access from the street and one is quieter, and these are seldom the same home. Compare the three individually against what your household needs rather than treating the building as a single product.
Three owners means an ordinary decision can be carried by a majority, so one household cannot block routine maintenance indefinitely. The Strata Property Act sets out what level of support different kinds of decision require, and some matters need more than a simple majority. Reading recent strata minutes is the best way to see how a specific building operates.
Shared costs divide three ways rather than two, which is easier on each household for the same bill. Whether the fee is actually lower depends on how much shared property the building has to maintain, so compare the real strata fees and the depreciation reports of the specific buildings rather than assuming the count decides it.
Start from any fixed constraint, such as needing step-free access or ground level outdoor space, because that usually eliminates most of the building. Where you have no such constraint, you are trading light against garden against price, and the home that appeals to the smallest pool of buyers is often the best value.
In a side by side arrangement, yes, and it affects both sound and light. The middle home is usually priced to reflect that. Whether it matters depends on which rooms sit against each shared wall, so ask for the floor plans of the neighbouring homes as well as your own before deciding.
Size varies with the building and the lot rather than following from the format, so there is no typical figure we would quote you as fact. What is generally true is that dividing a building three ways produces smaller homes than dividing it twice and larger ones than dividing it four or six times. Compare stated floor areas directly.
Yes. Townhouse describes the shape of a home, usually on several floors with its own ground level entrance, and a triplex describes a count of three homes. A building can be both, and many are. The floor plan tells you the arrangement more reliably than the word used in the listing.
Ask for two or three years of minutes, the current budget, the contingency fund balance and the depreciation report, and ask whether any large repair has been agreed but not yet paid for. In a three home building those documents also reveal how the owners get along, which matters more here than in a large strata.
No published benchmark exists for multiplex homes of any size. Greater Vancouver's MLS® Home Price Index publishes benchmarks for detached homes, apartments and townhouses only, plus a composite. Any average price quoted for triplexes is an estimate drawn from a small set of sales rather than a published market measure.
Not for ordinary decisions, which can be carried by a majority of the three. Certain decisions under the Strata Property Act require a higher level of support, and those are the ones where a single owner can hold things up. Ask which repairs are already approved, because an approved repair is a settled question.
Our triplex page lists the triplex homes currently available across Greater Vancouver, showing the building, the unit mix and the neighbourhood. Because the homes within one triplex differ from each other, it is worth looking at the individual homes rather than shortlisting buildings and working out the details later.

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Where these numbers come from

Every figure on this page comes from the body that issues it. Rules and rates change, so each entry says when we checked it.

  1. Strata Property Act, SBC 1998, c. 43. BC Laws, Queen's Printer for British Columbia. Accessed 29 August 2026.
  2. Greater Vancouver MLS® Home Price Index. Canadian Real Estate Association and Greater Vancouver REALTORS. July 2026 report, accessed 29 August 2026.

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