Seven New Town Locations Proposed to Kickstart Housebuilding

The locations of seven new towns have been named for consideration to kickstart housebuilding with each one delivering at least 10,000 homes, and several delivering up to 40,000.

The proposed locations are:

• Tempsford, Bedfordshire — up to 40,000 homes built around a new East West Rail station, linking residents to Cambridge, Oxford, London and Milton Keynes
• Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield — up to 21,000 homes helping to meet London’s acute housing need
• Leeds South Bank, West Yorkshire — up to 20,000 homes capitalising on the city’s economic momentum and the government’s £2.1 billion local transport investment
• Manchester Victoria North, Greater Manchester — at least 15,000 homes regenerating the heart of Greater Manchester, with a new Metrolink stop connecting residents to jobs across the city
• Thamesmead, Greenwich — up to 15,000 homes unlocking inaccessible riverside land in London, enabled by the planned Docklands Light Railway extension
• Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc, South Gloucestershire — up to 40,000 homes at the heart of a world-class research and advanced engineering economy
• Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire — building on its history as one of the original new towns, to take forward the ‘renewed town’ vision to expand the city by around 40,000 homes and reinvigorate the centre with a new local transport system, boosting connectivity in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor

Final locations will be confirmed later this year after a public consultation and Strategic Environmental Assessment and any further required environmental assessment.

The new towns will be designed so that people can easily get around without a car, with shared green spaces and modern high streets.

Four interim advisers have been appointed to support the New Towns Unit:

• Lyn Garner, former Chief Executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation;
• Ian Piper, former Chief Executive of the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation;
• Emma Cariaga, Chief Operating Officer of British Land;
• David Rudlin, Founding Principal of Rudlin & Co and principal author of the UK Government’s National Model Design Code

Building on the success seen in Stratford through the London Legacy Development Corporation and elsewhere, some new development corporations will also be stood up to support the new towns’ delivery.

In line with the new towns’ placemaking principles, the new towns will create affordable and balanced communities with schools, health facilities and community infrastructure, supported by public transport and walking and cycling infrastructure.

Government is taking a cross-government approach to include utilities, health, education, and digital infrastructure, to underpin new towns from the outset.

National Housing Bank

Alongside the new towns consultation, the government has also confirmed today that the National Housing Bank will launch on 1 April. It will be backed with up to £16bn of financial capacity and will aim to deliver over 500,000 new homes.

The government has also confirmed up to £400 million over the next decade for subsidised loans and investments at lower interest rates to help unlock housebuilding.

Chaired by Peter Vernon, with Simon Century as its Chief Executive, the Bank will respond to market needs, aiming to unlock over £53 billion of private investment, and provide developers with more financial stability and certainty to support the delivery of over half a million new homes. Century and Vernon both have comprehensive experience in property, financial services, regeneration, and management consultancy.

Other New Town Locations

The Government rejected six other New Town locations — Adlington, Heyford Park, Marlcombe (East Devon), Plymouth, South Barking and Wychavon Town. Some remain as “credible development opportunities”, such as Plymouth, which will have its own bespoke support package to support its growth as a centre of naval technology.

Additionally, a £234 million grant fund will support Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) to unlock 8,000 new homes on derelict brownfield land. These areas include Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, the East Midlands, Greater Lincolnshire, Hull & East Yorkshire, Tees Valley, West of England and York & North Yorkshire.

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