{"id":99560,"date":"2025-08-27T00:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T00:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/99560\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T00:29:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T00:29:13","slug":"ontario-homebuilder-offering-to-pay-property-taxes-utilities-as-buyer-market-stalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/99560\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario homebuilder offering to pay property taxes, utilities as buyer market stalls"},"content":{"rendered":"

A homebuilder in London, Ont., is offering to pay property taxes and utility costs for one year in a bid to entice hesitant homebuyers amid a province-wide housing market<\/a> stall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Foxwood Homes has launched a new incentive program, StartSmart, offering up to $12,500 to cover costs such as property taxes, electricity, water, natural gas and hot water heater rental.<\/p>\n

According to the homebuilders\u2019 website, the offer is available to anyone who purchases a Foxwood home in London before Sept. 15, not just first-time buyers.<\/p>\n

The move comes as homebuilders across Ontario struggle with slow sales<\/a>, rising costs and a hesitant buyer base in a housing market that Ontario\u2019s own housing minister admits has \u201ccome to a standstill.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

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According to the company, the credits are applied directly to utility accounts within 30 days of move-in, provided buyers submit account information within 15 days of closing.<\/p>\n

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Foxwood describes StartSmart as a way to reduce \u201cfinancial strain in year one,\u201d noting that many homeowners face overwhelming expenses at closing, including moving costs, furnishings, and unexpected repairs.<\/p>\n

In a market where people are less likely to take the home-buying leap, the program is positioned as a way to improve buyer confidence, reduce stress and help owners build financial stability during their first year in a new home.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPotential new home buyers have hit the pause button,\u201d said Ontario Housing Minister Rob Flack Monday.<\/p>\n

While Flack didn\u2019t name specific causes for the slowdown, his comments followed a report by RBC calling Ontario \u201cthe root of the housing crisis\u201d<\/a> in Canada.<\/p>\n

Though the City of London received $12 million from the province\u2019s Building Faster Fund to help expedite development approvals, the construction downturn is now prompting the provincial government to consider changing how that funding is awarded.<\/p>\n

With affordability remaining a major barrier and consumer confidence shaken, developers like Foxwood are turning to incentive programs like StartSmart to attract hesitant buyers and keep projects moving.<\/p>\n

\u2014 with files from Colin D\u2019Mello<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A homebuilder in London, Ont., is offering to pay property taxes and utility costs for one year in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48,46,57764,57765,13404,968],"class_list":["post-99560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy","tag-housing-crisis","tag-ontario-housing","tag-ontario-politics","tag-real-estate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}