New Towns will ‘not help Labour achieve 1.5 million target’ – claim

The Government’s plans to build several new towns will not make a big contribution towards its housebuilding plans, it has been claimed.

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner (main picture) announced last month that the Government planned to oversee building of 370,000 homes every year, up 70,000 from the figure Labour promised in the General Election.

And new towns would be an important part of the drive to build homes on a huge scale.

Thinktank sceptics

But now analysis by the thinktank Centre for Cities pours cold water on Labour’s plans, The Guardian reports.

New towns only accounted for 3.3% of all new housebuilding in the 40 years after the Second World War, the analysis shows,

Some planning experts are sceptical that it will be possible for the Government to build new homes, and especially new towns at the rate needed.

Its role in increasing total housebuilding is likely to be relatively small.”

Maurice Lange, an analyst at Centre for Cities, said: “While the Government hasn’t given a timeline in which a certain number of houses should be delivered by new towns, the implication is that it sees these projects as an important part of delivering the 1.5m homes promised in its manifesto.

“Past experience suggests that the policy can accelerate development in certain areas, but its role in increasing total housebuilding is likely to be relatively small.”

Likely sites

A Government spokesperson told The Guardian said: “New towns are just one part of our plan to get Britain building again and create the homes this country needs. They are expected to deliver hundreds of thousands of much needed affordable homes in decades to come.”

Thinktank UK Day One said three cities are likely to see new towns built outside them – Oxford, Bristol and York.

And a deal has been signed for 3,000 new homes in Britain’s largest new town currently under development, at Northstowe, near Cambridge.