Speeding the pace of house construction in London and working with the city to ensure those homes are affordable are critical challenges for the London Home Builders’ Association, its incoming chief executive says.

It’s a good thing Jared Zaifman is no stranger to building or to city politics.

He is coming into the job at a time of enormous, rapid change, with demand for new homes increasing nearly as fast as the price of materials to build them and with growing calls to make homes more affordable.

“We are facing a lot of challenges and one of the biggest pieces is the lack of housing supply in the city and region,” Zaifman said.

“One of the biggest things we have to do is spend more time advocating at city hall. Supply and affordability are bigger and bigger problems.”

Increased demand, including from Toronto-area buyers, and limited supply have driven up home values, but the rising cost of building materials has also pushed up prices.

“What we can do is work with different levels of government and builders to focus on supply and time to market,” Zaifman said. “From my time on council, going into this role, I have a good relationship with council and staff. It puts me in good position at city hall.”

For Langdon, the pace of change in the last few years has accelerated rapidly. She said affordability and supply as well as advances in building technology, especially in the environmental sector, are key changes she has seen in home building.

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