Work on first new towns to ‘start within four years’ says Pennycook as 100 proposals submitted

Construction work on the government’s new towns programme will start within the next four years, housing minister Matthew Pennycook has said.

Pennycook told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning that he expected plans for the first wave of new town projects to “make a contribution to housing numbers in this parliament”.

The minister’s comments came after the government revealed today that proposals for more than 100 sites across England have been submitted for new towns, which are expected to contain at least 10,000 homes each.

Around 12 sites will be chosen this summer, with Keir Starmer expected to set out design principles favouring traditional, Georgian-style homes and winding streets in an effort to create “well-designed, beautiful communities”.

The announcement on new towns follows the prime minister’s visit on Monday, accompanied by the King and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, to the traditionally-designed Nansledan development in Cornwall.

Starmer has made his target to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament a central priority as part of his Plan for Change, which includes the government’s “growth-focused” reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

These reforms have created a new ‘grey belt’ landclass aiming to unlock poor quality areas of the green belt. The government has also set up a New Homes Accelerator which it says has unblocked 20,000 delayed homes by deploying “planning expertise”.

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Other announcements today include £2m to support approvals work at the Building Safety Regulator, which has faced criticism in recent weeks due to lengthy delays for high rise residential schemes.

Local councils have been handed £3m to boost their planning capacity, while government agencies including National Highways, Natural England and the Environment Agency have been given £1m.

Starmer said the government was “urgently using all levers available to build the homes we need so more families can get on the housing ladder.” 

“We’re sweeping aside the blockers to get houses built, no longer accepting no as the default answer, and paving the way for the next generation of new towns,” he added.

“As part of the largest housebuilding programme since the post-war era, our ambitious Plan for Change will transform the lives of working people, once again connecting the basic principle that if you work hard, you should get on.”

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However, the timescales for getting the first new towns started have been criticised by industry groups while the British Property Federation (BPF) has urged Starmer to be “even bolder” in ensuring key agencies are “adequately resourced”.

BPF chief executive Melanie Leech added: “It’s also important the government moves as quickly as possible to give the sector policy certainty – in addition to the long-term housing strategy we expect a number of consultations over the next few months as well as key decisions such as the building safety levy rates. 

“Swift action and decisions from Ministers on these are needed to build momentum for new homes and communities.”

Meanwhile, HTA Design chair and former RIBA president Ben Derbyshire suggested it would be quicker to focus on improving existing town centres rather than building new towns or extensions to existing towns.

He said: “One hundred potential opportunities for Britons to live in the sunny uplands, at the other end of the rainbow? I worry that the long-term plan (it will be a generation before anyone moves in) perpetuates our tendency to abandon existing towns and cities currently challenged in so many ways.

“The emphasis should be on the other priority set out in the NPPF – that of limiting peripheral development in favour of town-centre investment. If we fail in that imperative, we risk losing the sense of civic identity that keeps historic towns close to our hearts.