The Government has appointed Sir Michael Lyons as Chair of the newly established ‘New Towns Taskforce’, and Dame Kate Barker serving as Deputy Chair. Sir Michael noted that the taskforce “will work closely with local leaders, communities as well as the wider development and investment sectors to make sure these new towns are built in the right places.”
Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said:
“We applaud the Labour government for reviving the new towns policy. From stimulating regional growth and boosting construction worker capacity, to creating affordable housing in unaffordable regions and designing the places of the future, new towns are a strategic policy mechanism.
There are considerable opportunities to involve local employers, investing regional contractors and SME builders in the process, particularly as policies, such as the subdivision of large sites, already exist to achieve that in practice.”
The new towns programme will include the creation of large-scale new communities built on greenfield land and separated from other nearby settlements, as well as numerous urban extensions and urban regeneration schemes. Each new settlement will initially contain at least 10,000 homes but will be able to deliver more in the future.
All new towns will be well connected, well designed with all necessary infrastructure, and aim to deliver 40% affordable housing.
The final shortlist of locations will be announced before the end of August 2025, with the first taskforce meeting scheduled for September.
Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy and Market Insight for the NFB, said:
“As well as being necessary, a new towns and urban extension policy is a pragmatic way to build 1.5million homes over the next parliament. As Homes England can be appointed a local planning authority, the Government will be able to realise their ambitions almost immediately.
Their delivery will also help the Government understand where the planning pinch points are and why reforms that industry lobby for, are so important to unlocking and sustaining growth and better places.
Nutrient neutrality and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) are going to be considerable viability challenges for new towns, which is why I believe Compulsory Purchase Order reforms will be prioritised to help reduce the cost of land. However, industry will hope that the viability challenges alert the Government to the disproportionate nature of nutrients policy and why onsite solutions are key to making BNG work for builders and biodiversity.”
