Government policy statement on new towns

[edit] Getting Britain building again with new taskforce

"This government believes that sustained economic growth is the only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people. Getting Britain building again is integral to kickstarting that growth and we are determined to build 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. Boosting housing supply requires not only reform of the planning system, but also a renewed focus on building large-scale new communities across England. That is why today, we have established an independent expert New Towns Taskforce.

The post-war New Towns programme was the most ambitious town-building effort ever undertaken in the UK. It transformed the lives of millions of working people by giving them affordable and well-designed homes in well-planned and beautiful surroundings. The 32 communities it created are now home to millions of people. This government will continue to invest in their regeneration, but we are also committed to bringing forward the next generation of new towns.

This government’s new towns programme will include large-scale new communities built on greenfield land and separated from other nearby settlements, but also a larger number of urban extensions and urban regeneration schemes that will work with the grain of development in any given area. The unifying principle will be that each of the new settlements will contain at least 10,000 homes, although we expect a number to be far larger in size. Collectively, we expect they could provide hundreds of thousands more homes in the decades to come.

Our new towns programme will not just make a significant contribution to meeting housing demand and housing need across England but will also support economic growth by releasing the productive potential of constrained towns and cities across England and ensuring our housebuilding drive is aligned with our industrial strategy and national infrastructure plans.

We have been clear we want exemplary development to be the norm not the exception. The next generation of new towns must be well-connected, well-designed, sustainable and attractive places where people want to live and have all the infrastructure, amenities and services necessary to sustain thriving communities. Our ‘New Towns Code’ will ensure they deliver to the highest standards and help meet housing need by targeting rates of 40% affordable housing with a focus on genuinely affordable social rented homes."

[edit] Further detail on the New Towns Taskforce

"The role of the Taskforce will be to advise ministers on appropriate locations for significant housing growth. It will deliver a final shortlist of recommendations within 12 months, but will have the freedom to share conclusions in respect of specific sites earlier if beneficial to the government’s housebuilding drive. The Taskforce will work in partnership with local leaders and communities wherever possible, but its selection of sites will be made in the national interest.

The Deputy Prime Minister has today appointed Sir Michael Lyons as the Taskforce chair. Sir Michael has a distinguished career in public service, having spent over 26 years in local government, including 17 years as the chief executive of 3 major UK local authorities. He has a detailed knowledge of the housing sector, not least through the Lyons Housing Review commissioned by the then Leader of the Opposition, the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP. He was also a former Chairman of the BBC. Sir Michael is the current non-executive Chairman of the English Cities Fund – which is a joint venture with large scale regeneration developments in London, Liverpool, Plymouth, Salford and Wakefield.

Sir Michael will be supported in his role by Dame Kate Barker as Deputy Chair, a former non-executive director at Taylor Wimpey. Dame Kate is experienced in working with the government on housing policy and has previously been commissioned by the government to conduct a major independent policy review of UK housing supply, and subsequently a review of land use planning. Alongside her experience in housing policy, Dame Kate also chairs the trustees of the Universities Superannuation Scheme and has previously been an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. The rest of the Taskforce will be appointed ahead of its first meeting this September."

This article is based on the UK Gov "Policy statement on new towns" dated 31 July, 2024.

This article appears on the IHBC news and blog site as 'IHBC’s ‘Management’ signpost: Government policy statement on new towns, and the independent New Towns Taskforce' dated 10 September, 2024.

--IHBC

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