The housing department will press ahead with the next steps to build 12 English new towns after a taskforce named locations that could add 300,000 homes.
Housing minister Steve Reed unveiled the list during his speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Sunday, which covers sites in Manchester, London and Devon by 2050.
He added that building work at three sites – Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Crews Hill in London and Leeds South Bank – would begin before the next election.
Reed said: “I am launching the next generation of new towns taking the lessons from the post-war Labour government housing boom … mobilising the full power of the state to build a new generation of new towns and restore the dream of home ownership to thousands of families across the country.”
Reed wore a red baseball cap, with the words ‘build, baby, built’ on the conference podium, which is fast becoming a mantra for the new housing secretary.
The dozen new towns should hold “at least” 10,000 homes with an ambition for a minimum of 40% affordable housing, and half of which will be for social rent.
The list was drawn up by the new towns taskforce, led by Sir Michael Lyons, which was commissioned by the government last September to pick sites for development.
The housing department said the taskforce “has recommended a mixture of large-scale communities, including urban extensions, urban regeneration, and standalone greenfield sites should be built”.
Reed added that a new towns unit will be established to progress development. He adds that the unit will work with all departments and their agencies to ensure new towns are a test bed for innovation and to unblock barriers to delivery.
Building a dozen new towns could cost up to £48bn, according to a May report by consultancy WPI Strategy.
A strategic environmental assessment will be undertaken to understand the environmental implications of developing new towns.
No final decisions on locations will be made until this assessment concludes, “and preferred locations could change as a result of the process,” said the housing department.
It added: “The government will publish the draft proposals and final SEA for consultation in the spring, before confirming the locations that will be progressed as new towns soon after.
“This will be alongside a full government response to the new towns taskforce’s report.”
The new homes taskforce estimates that the dozen recommended locations could contribute “at least 300,000 new homes in the coming years”.
Labour’s new towns plan is a key part of its target to build 1.5 million new homes by the next election.
Earlier this month, the House of Lords’ built environment committee said that Labour’s new town plan “urgently needs a clear, engaging vision that explains what these new towns are for, what they are designed to achieve and why they matter”.
The new homes taskforce’s 12 sites for development:
- A standalone settlement in Adlington, Cheshire East
- A corridor of connected development in South Gloucestershire, across Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc
- An expanded development bringing together Chase Park and Crews Hill in Enfield, London
- Redevelopment of the former airbase at Heyford Park in Cherwell
- Further urban development in Leeds
- Inner-city development in Manchester, Victoria North
- A standalone settlement in Marlcombe, East Devon
- A ‘renewed town’ in Milton Keynes
- Densified development in Plymouth
- A new settlement in Tempsford, Central Bedfordshire
- A riverside settlement in Thamesmead, Greenwich, London
- Expanded development at Worcestershire Parkway, Wychavon
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