The New Towns Taskforce (the "NTT") recently issued its much-anticipated independent report to government on the sites which it proposes for designation as new towns. In this briefing we explore its report and the challenges that implementation will face.
What is the New Towns Taskforce and what was it asked to do?
The NTT was promptly established by the government in July 2024 to explore potential sites for new towns in England, with a view to delivering a key manifesto commitment made by the government prior to the 2024 General Election. The delivery of new towns was proposed as an important weapon in the government's arsenal to enable its ambitious commitment to deliver 1,500,000 new homes by the end of this parliamentary term. As the necessary legislative mechanisms are already in place to identify and deliver new towns, it is not surprising that launching the NTT was one of the government's first moves in July 2024.
After exploring the potential viability of hundreds of locations across England over the last year, the NTT has recommended the following twelve locations for the "next generation of new towns":
Image from the Taskforce's report
The commitment to build "a generation of new towns, inspired by the proud legacy of the 1945 Labour government" implied an intention to build new towns where towns or substantial developments did not already exist, given the nature of the new town developments which were undertaken in the post-war period referred to. However, it is interesting to note that a substantial proportion of the proposed development locations identified by the NTT would likely not be considered 'new towns' per se by the ordinary person. Whilst some of the locations will undoubtedly deliver truly new towns, a substantial proportion of the locations put forward by the NTT involve densification and/or regeneration of existing developments. There is also a significant bias towards London and the South of England, with only three proposed locations in the North of England.
The government immediately responded to the NTT's recommendations, noting that it warmly welcomed all twelve recommended locations and that "Tempsford, Crews Hill and Leeds South Bank [look] particularly promising as sites that might make significant contributions to unlocking economic growth and accelerating housing delivery".
Further assessments and investigations are required before spades can be put in the ground, however. The government has launched a Strategic Environmental Assessment ("SEA") in respect of the twelve sites and other "reasonable alternatives", indicating that a shortlist of additional properties has been identified beyond the twelve recommended by the NTT. It is unclear at this stage exactly how long the SEA process will take, although it is thought that detailed reports will be available in Spring 2026.
Although the development of new towns was touted as a potential means of hitting the government's ambitious target of 300,000 homes per year, the government's response to the NTT report appears to concede that it no longer holds much hope in this regard as it notes, "we are determined to get spades in the ground on at least three new towns in this Parliament and the government is prepared to progress work on a far larger range of locations if it proves possible." Therefore, it does not sound likely that we will see any new towns actually delivered during this parliamentary term. Significant planning will need to go into the development of the new towns, however some may view the government's response as underwhelming, give that a number of the proposed 'new towns' would involve regeneration or densification of existing developments, rather than the greater undertaking of constructing entirely new towns and infrastructure.
The government has acknowledged that it will take time to assemble the land required to develop the new towns before development can commence, however the new town compulsory purchase guidance will allow compulsory purchase orders to be deployed for the purpose of gathering land even where a new town scheme is not yet fully in place.
The government will also be looking to minimise the costs of the land gathering exercise by utilising the 'no scheme principle' for CPOs in connection with new towns. This principle means that the price paid to the owner of the compulsorily purchased land will not take into account any value associated with the potential for planning permission which arises from the designation of the relevant area as a potential new town.
The respective local authorities for the recommended locations may also be concerned that, despite significant proportions of land within their local authority areas being utilised for the delivery of new towns, it is unclear at this stage whether homes delivered by the new towns will contribute towards their respective housing supply targets. The government has promised further detail for local authorities on this point in due course.
The government's response also notes that it would prefer for new town delivery to be undertaken via the development corporation model, to allow flexibility and to expedite the planning and development process. This will dovetail with the enhanced powers to be provided to development corporations under the upcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
It is clear that the development of new towns is a long-term project which will span multiple parliamentary terms, given the government has acknowledged the twelve new towns will "have the potential to deliver up to 300,000 homes across the country over the coming decades". Although such long-term investment and planning in infrastructure by the government is to be commended, the new towns alone will not deliver the much-needed silver bullet for the government's extremely ambitious housing delivery targets. In order to meet the housing delivery targets for this parliamentary term, the government will be hoping that greater housing delivery will be unlocked through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and other legislative/policy reform.
Delivery at scale remains the most likely way to put a dent in the government's housing targets. While the proposed minimum of 10,000 new homes per new town is a good start, it remains to be seen how many of these sites can overcome the various challenges that lie ahead. Arguably, those that stand the best chance are the sites that were previously identified for development and are perhaps a little further down the track.
Lastly, this should not just be a numbers game. History will judge this government not only on their record of delivery but also whether those new towns that do come forward are places where people actually want to live, long term. Thus place-making must be front and centre to avoid a race to the bottom.
