City tackles backlog of planning approvals to get new housing built faster

Aiming to put a dent in the local housing crisis, city hall has streamlined its approval process for new developments.

But is it working?

CEO of the London Home Builders’ Association Jared Zaifman consulted with civic administration about the industry’s challenges getting timely approvals.

“Whether it’s a few extra days, or even a few extra months, sometimes it can make a huge difference if you’re getting someone into a home sooner,” Zaifman said.

A report to the Planning and Environment Committee details how $1.708 million awarded to London from the province’s Streamlined Development Approval Fund.

Ten initiatives to get developments approved more quickly included:

• Additional Temporary Staff
• Consultant - Ecological Support
• Consultant – Archaeological Mapping
• Digitization of Historic Files
• Process Mapping and Improvements
• Site Plan Control By-law Update
• Software – Drawing Review
• Software – Collaboration
• Delegate Authority to Staff - Subdivisions
• Delegate Authority to Staff - Condominiums

A house under construction in southwest London. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

Delegating more authority to city staff is expected to further reduce the approval timeline by 30 days for subdivisions and 45 calendar days for condominiums.

“The demand is there, the crisis is real. With more people coming into our community, we need more rental apartments available and more houses available of all kinds,” said Zaifman.

“This funding has aided in tackling the backlog of work within the Planning and Development division,” explained Scott Mathers, deputy city manager of Planning and Development. “[It’s] establishing the current state of the development approvals process, and helped foster a culture of continuous improvement.”

Zaifman believes there is still more work that can be done to get developments approved faster.

“A better streamlined digital process, I know council’s been looking at it, [and] the industry’s been looking at it,” he explained. “On the Building Division side, we have something that’s working, but there could be improvements.”

The staff report detailing how the provincial streamlining funds were spent will be considered by the planning committee Oct. 23.