Before you compare your property with a new semi-detached home near Laval-sur-le-Lac, it's worth sizing up what bringing it up to date would take.

The question comes up in many large, established houses: should you renovate in Laval-sur-le-Lac or buy new somewhere else? This article won't decide for you. It gathers the facts that weigh in the decision: the age and size of the neighbourhood's houses, from the 2021 Census; the rules the City of Laval's urban planning code applies to renovation work; and what a move-in-ready new home in Sainte-Julie offers on the other side of the scale.

An established housing stock, in many styles

The 2021 Census figures for the tract covering the neighbourhood speak for themselves: 28.4% of dwellings dated from 1960 or earlier, twice the share seen across the City of Laval as a whole (14.2%); half had been built in 1980 or earlier. The years 2016 to 2021 account for 21.6% of dwellings, but those are the four condo buildings on Rue les Érables: outside them, most of the houses were built before 2001.

The typo-morphological study published by the City of Laval in 2020 describes a very mixed built landscape of residences and villas built between the 1930s and 2000, dominated by three types the study calls the neo-eclectic house, the “manoir millénaire” and the modern house. These are big homes: 8.4 rooms on average, and 56.8% of the neighbourhood's dwellings have eight rooms or more. Finally, 6.8% of dwellings needed major repairs, compared with 5.2% across Laval and 2.9% in Sainte-Julie.

Visible work: what the urban planning code reviews

In the neighbourhood, work you can see from outside involves more than a permit. The City of Laval's open data make the point: of 311 mapped buildings in the neighbourhood, 293 stand where the site-planning and architectural-integration program (PIIA) for buildings of interest applies. This PIIA applies to a new building, an addition and any change to a building's architectural appearance. Its review grids set out objectives such as:

preserving the original siting characteristics;
carrying out additions that blend in harmoniously;
maximizing the preservation of wooded areas and of mature or noteworthy trees.

Near the water, a second framework applies: 211 of the 311 buildings are within the shoreline PIIA, whose first objective is to preserve or frame generous views of the Rivière des Prairies, the Rivière des Mille Îles or the Lac des Deux Montagnes.

A PIIA is not a ban. The project is assessed against qualitative criteria by the planning advisory committee, and a well-integrated addition is entirely possible. You simply need to build into your timeline the time it takes to prepare a careful submission and to have it reviewed. Worth noting: the neighbourhood is not one of the heritage areas identified in Laval's land-use plan; it's the PIIAs that govern how its houses look.

What a major renovation involves

Beyond the rules, a major renovation of a large house raises some very practical questions:

the scope of the work: an update often starts with one item — the kitchen, a bathroom, the windows — and uncovers others once the walls are open;
life during the job: staying in the house, or living elsewhere while the work is done;
the timeline: design, review of the project if it changes how the house looks, permits, then construction;
the outcome: a renovated house keeps its size; if several rooms are hardly used anymore, renovating won't make them disappear.

None of these questions is an argument against renovating. If staying in the neighbourhood matters most to you, it's the natural route.

Renovate in Laval-sur-le-Lac or buy new: what does new construction offer?

On the other side, a new BÉAcité home in Sainte-Julie arrives finished. The inclusions are set in advance: a quartz kitchen counter, large windows in every room, 9-foot ceilings, central forced-air gas heating, central air conditioning, a garage with an outlet for an electric car, grading and complete landscaping. Several interior finish choices are part of the standard features.

Quebec law requires it: any new home a builder sells must be protected by the mandatory guarantee plan for new residential buildings; ask the sales director how far that protection goes. The builder, Maisons Pépin inc., is the holder of RBQ licence 8297-6796-29 and has 30 years of experience. Once you've moved in, upkeep is fully handled by an all-inclusive program, and the sales director will give you its details.

Ready now, or in a few months

New doesn't necessarily mean waiting. Four turnkey homes are for sale right now: 405, 408, 423 and 435 Geoffrion Street. Number 405 offers a mezzanine, three bedrooms and a rooftop terrace; number 423 is a three-bedroom Duo home with a wine cellar, an open office and a finished basement. Several other customizable homes can be ready in about four months, and 20 more are still entirely open to customization, as cottages or bungalows.

If you'd rather settle your own options than buy a finished house, our article on how to customize a new home near Laval-sur-le-Lac explains what's offered, and where the limits are.

Selling in a very small market

Choosing new construction often means selling first. And the neighbourhood's market is tiny: according to Centris, 9 single-family houses sold there over the four quarters ending in the third quarter of 2026, too few for a median price to be published. So no "neighbourhood price" can serve as a benchmark. To value your property, turn to a real estate professional or a chartered appraiser who can account for its particular features: the lot, the location, the work already done.

And if it's mainly the upkeep of a large lot that weighs on you, read our article on the maintenance-free home near Laval-sur-le-Lac: it sets what your current property asks of you against what the maintenance program changes.

Conclusion

Renovate in Laval-sur-le-Lac or buy new: both projects make sense. Renovating means staying in a wooded, waterside neighbourhood, at the cost of a construction job and, for anything that affects the look or siting of the house, a PIIA review. Buying new means moving into a finished home, covered by the mandatory guarantee and with its upkeep taken care of, but in Sainte-Julie, about an hour's drive away. To compare in person, tour the homes starting from the sales office at 435 Geoffrion Street: it's open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and evening or weekend visits are by appointment.

Renovate in Laval-sur-le-Lac or buy new: two projects side by side