London ranks third in Canada for fast, affordable development, outperforms Ontario benchmark: CHBA

New homes are built in a housing construction development in the west end of Ottawa on Thursday, May 6, 2021.

A benchmarking study conducted by the Canadian Homebuilders' Association (CHBA) has ranked London third in the country performance wise in terms of approval timelines, municipal fees, and planning features.

The report used these key performance indicators to measure up the ease with which developers can put shovels in the ground. The hope is that reducing these barriers will increase the rate at which new homes can be constructed, improving affordability and availability.

“London’s strong performance in this national study is a testament to the hard work and commitment of City staff, Council and our community partners,” said Mayor Josh Morgan. We’re proud of this achievement and we remain committed to building on the momentum to ensure London continues to be a leader in creating more housing options for everyone.”

The study looked at 23 municipalities across Canada, and with the exception of London, Ontario performed consistently below the benchmark set in the rest of Canada - with the four lowest ranking municipalities being Bradford West, Gwillimbury, Markham, Toronto and Pickering. This is largely due to high development fees and lengthy approval processes.

That lag of Ontario housing starts is in spite of the province investing a significant amount of funding in helping municipalities reach housing targets. The Building Faster Fund (launched in 2023) saw $1.2 billion invested over three years.

The top ranking municipalities were as follows:

Of particular concern to the CHBA was the rising municipal fees associated with new developments. Across the board, municipal fees went up by an average of $27,500 per unit in low-rise developments and $3,000 per unit in high-rise developments since 2022.

The report emphasized that the combination of an ever challenging economic context, paired with rising costs in application processes are directly resulting in fewer applications for new housing.

London stood out in the CHBA’s dataset as having the fastest site plan and development permit approval timelines in Canada.