Planning and real estate heavyweights have welcomed the government’s confirmation of the first wave of new town locations, despite concerns over viability hurdle and how realistic the development timeframes are.
Earlier today (23 March), housing secretary Steve Reed unveiled the first seven locations for its new towns programme, which are expected to provide at least 10,000 new homes each, after the New Towns Taskforce, formed in 2024, published its initial 12 recommended sites in September last year.
The locations include Tempsford in Bedfordshire, where up to 40,000 homes will be built around a new East West Rail station, and the Crews Hill and Chase Park site in Enfield, with potential for up to 21,000 homes.
The other five sites are: Leeds South Bank, with potential for 20,000 homes; Manchester Victoria North (15,000 homes); Thamesmead in Greenwich (15,000 homes); Milton Keynes (40,000 homes); and Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc in South Gloucestershire (40,000 homes).
Melaine Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “Today’s announcement is a welcome next step for this 21st century new towns programme.
“We call on the government to work with all key partners and representatives to identify and remove barriers to delivery, including [barriers to] infrastructure provision and connectivity, and actively promote housing tenures,such as build-to-rent (BTR) and single-family housing, which will accelerate delivery.”
Victoria Du Croz, head of planning at law firm Forsters, said confirmation of the seven sites was “helpful”, but warned that it was “hard to see a situation where these homes come out the ground fast enough to make a material difference to housing supply”.
She added: “Planning reform is starting to trickle through to projects coming forward, but there is a big difference between submitting planning applications and getting spades in the ground.
“There is every chance that a second planning bill will be coming forward in the next parliament and that could be the necessary step to truly delivering homes at speed.”
David Churchill, partner at Carter Jonas, agreed that it was “critically important that we attempt to find a gear change in development”.
He added that while new towns have “long been needed”, even if the sites can provide 200,000 homes, at typical build-out rates, it would “equate to not much more than 10,000 homes per annum – 3% of the current target for housing delivery in England”.
David Crosthwaite, chief economist at BCIS, said the announcement “sends a clear signal of intent”, which will give developers “greater clarity on where public sector investment will be focused”. But he warned that bringing these plans forward “appears more complex than it did last year”.
Crosthwaite added: “In addition to existing and emerging cost pressures from regulatory compliance, developers may have to contend with the effects of energy price volatility. Conflict in the Middle East has not abated and sustained unrest is likely to feed into materials costs and, in turn, building costs, placing further strain on project viability.
“If new towns are to meet these ambitions – particularly amid rising cost pressures and within the government’s stringent, self-imposed deadlines – robust cost modelling, benchmarking and collaborative approaches to understanding and managing inflationary pressures will be essential on every project.”
Mary-Anne Bowring, managing director at Ringley Group, said: “Confirmation of the locations is a positive next step, but getting the tenure mix right is just as important as actually building new homes.
“Given the economic imperative of using housing to support key sectors of the economy, as well as responding to what consumers actually want, BTR and single-family housing have a key role to play not only as accelerators of delivery but in meeting that need.”
Churchill added: “Alongside new towns, delivery from a range of smaller sites across a variety of types and tenures should continue to be prioritised. These sites are capable of delivering development more quickly, thereby contributing to economic, social and environmental goals.”
The government also announced that new towns will not be taken forward at six possible locations identified earlier – Adlington; Heyford Park; Marlcombe (East Devon); Plymouth; South Barking; and Wychavon Town – despite previously describing these sites as “credible development opportunities”.
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