London city council pledges to build 47,000 new homes by 2031

London is on course to accelerate the building of 47,000 new homes across the city by 2031 — with more than 18,500 units already approved to be built, according to a new report from city hall. 

At a meeting on Tuesday evening, London city council's strategic priorities and policy committee voted unanimously in support of a housing pledge to meet the 47,000-unit target.

It's all part of the province's goal to build 1.5 million residential units across Ontario through the More Homes Built Faster Act, aiming to streamline rules around development applications.

The city released a report outlining the strategies and actions necessary to build the 47,000 homes, a number assigned by the province.

Council's pledge and a letter from the mayor must be sent to the minister of municipal affairs and housing by March 1, putting the pressure on council to finalize its plan.

The strategy includes "gentle intensification" of neighbourhoods aligned with the London Plan, reusing vacant commercial and office spaces in the city's core, and municipal affordable housing development.  

It also includes launching an affordable housing reference group to advise building 3,000 affordable housing units.

'An aggressive head start' 

"We've got the opportunity to really take a an aggressive head start on achieving this target," said Mayor Josh Morgan at the meeting. 

"I think that what we have here is an opportunity for London to lead on this, to craft out a partnership of shared accountability across a number of partners, to have a vigorous campaign and effort to make sure that we get everything we could possibly need to achieve these goals," he said.  

According to the report, 18,513 units are already approved in open subdivisions, site plans and condominiums. That number will mark nearly 40 per cent of the target number of new homes, but construction has yet to begin. 

"If we can get that 18,000 moving the remaining number doesn't become as daunting as it looks when it's 47,000 new permits starting from zero," said Morgan. 

Other partners need to come to the table to help

London Development Institute, representing most land developers in the city, spoke as a delegate at the committee meeting.

"We support you sending a letter to the province saying that London will be in a position to be able to meet that commitment," said Mike Wallace, executive director of London Development Institute.

"There are other partners that need to come to the table to help us and that includes the province, and we are more than willing to be a voice as an industry on some of the things that need to change to help us get to the 47,000."

Municipalities and conservation authorities have raised concerns about the More Homes Built Faster Act. Among the impacts laid out in a city staff report is a potential $97-million hole in the city's budget over five years if the changes go ahead.

Ward 7 Coun. Corrine Rahman said its important to highlight the financial strain the city will face due to the act. 

"Those challenges bear consequences, which we are going to have to bear, our taxpayers are going to have to bear. And at the end of the day, there isn't an assurance that the savings that are being that developers will experience will be passed on to consumers and that's a really important," she said. 

Morgan assured council committing to the pledge still leaves the door open for raising concerns with the province. 

"Just because we may be making a pledge that talks about our approach to this as a council does not mean we don't vigorously lobby through our organizations," he said, citing issues raised by Ontario's Big City Mayors about financial deficits municipalities will face.  

Ward 11 Coun. Skylar Franke urged the committee to include concerns in the letter to the province, saying if the city is going to achieve the targets, the province needs to help with affordable units, funding and issues like rent control. 

The housing pledge report is set for debate at full council on Feb. 14.