Media

Plan to rapidly build 12 new towns a “first step” in tackling Britain housing crisis 

 

• Plan developed by Britain Remade and Create Streets for 12 new towns fast and well could provide over 550,000 well-designed and appropriately located homes 
• The new homes would boost the economy by £13-28 billion annually by improving access to high-paying jobs in well-connected cities
• By focusing on gentle density developing the towns would strike a balance between productivity, sustainability, and community appeal.

Over 550,000 new homes could be built in areas where the housing crisis is most acute, boosting the economy by billions of pounds, if the Government adopted a plan to build 12 new towns proposed by campaigners.

Developed by the pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade and Create Streets, a design practice and think tank, the plan outlines the principles the Government’s New Towns Taskforce should adopt when selecting locations, the rules that should govern the design, and the policy changes needed to make it easier to build new towns quickly, normally as extensions of existing towns.

The plan includes expanding Cambridge, Oxford, and York, as well as creating new communities in Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, and Essex where ready access to train lines permits.

The report, Creating New Towns Fast and Well, states that the new towns should be located in areas suffering from acute housing need, with strong links to existing cities or towns - especially those experiencing significant housing shortages - and with space for at least 10,000 homes today along with room for future expansion.

It also highlights that the towns should avoid encroaching on National Landscapes, flood plains, or Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and should have good public transport links and ‘gentle density’ to encourage sustainable lifestyles. New towns need to be  more than just collections of poorly-connected sustainable buildings. 

To prevent the new towns from becoming mired in the planning system, the report recommends several policy changes, including:

• Using the Government’s large parliamentary mandate to draft Acts of Parliament to supply infrastructure and accelerate planning;
• Amending the National Planning Policy Framework to designate new towns as critical national priorities, reducing uncertainty and speeding up approvals; and
• Exempting plans for the new towns from nutrient neutrality regulations that can delay delivery. (The burden should fall on water companies who should upgrade water treatment works to provide a higher level of treatment to reduce nutrient discharges. A written ministerial statement can remove the risk of nutrient neutrality holding up new town delivery whilst requiring high standards.)

The 12 new towns would provide over 550,000 well-designed and appropriately located homes with strong connections to existing cities and towns, as well as high-quality transport infrastructure.

The new towns would boost the economy by £13-28 billion annually by improving access to high-paying jobs in well-connected cities.

By focusing on gentle density development - neighbourhoods of three to eight storeys -  the towns would strike a balance between productivity, sustainability, and community appeal.

Following a call for evidence the report has been submitted to the New Towns Taskforce, an independent expert advisory panel set up in September to support the Government in delivering the next generation of new towns.

Sam Richards, CEO of Britain Remade, said:

“It is no accident that there is a housing crisis, and it is not for want of trying that people in good-paying jobs cannot own their own homes - these are the consequences of policy decisions by Governments of all stripes over the last 30 years.

“The Government’s commitment to building new towns to address Britain’s chronic housing crisis is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But to make these new towns truly sustainable communities that people want to live in, the Government needs to take the right approach. Our plan shows how with 12 new towns we can take the first step in seriously addressing the housing crisis..

“By building at gentle densities, not only can more homes be built on less land, but emissions can also be reduced. People living in cities emit 50% less carbon than those who live outside them. However, to truly unlock the potential of new towns, the Government must address the planning system, which far too often holds back or delays the infrastructure we need.”

Nicholas Boys Smith MBE, Founder & Chairman of Create Streets, said:

“All our government-led attempts to create new towns and settlements over the last 60 years have basically failed.

Too few homes, too far apart and too slowly built. No real town centres, little walkability and very little public transport. Ugly civic centres that only a mother could love. No pull. No place-magnetism. On the few occasions that we’ve actually built something, they have not been towns but sprawling suburbs. ‘Car parks beside stations’ is the model not ‘new towns beside stations’. It is depressing, unsustainable and stupid.

"As a society, we need to relearn how to become town builders again.  We need to relearn how to fall back in love with the future and create new settlements that are actually better than old settlements. 

"Frankly, that will require enormous changes from the planning, design and development sectors. We need to be more ambitious for what we create. Why should new towns be uglier and worse than the old? And the government will need to pursue this important agenda with enormous speed, urgency and the courage to cut through the thickets that ‘business as usual’ will doubtless put in their way.

"The need for new homes is urgent. The daily inequalities being inflicted upon the young, and the poor by the sclerotic housing supply are happening now. Ten years on I don’t want to be discussing how yet another round of government-led new settlements failed. This paper suggests how the government’s important and wise programme can avoid that fate.”

 

Notes to Editors

 

Proposed new towns

Town	County	Potential homes	Existing (in bold) or planned infrastructure
Greater Cambridge	Cambridgeshire	150,000-200,000	East West Rail, New tramway, A14, M11
Tempsford	Bedfordshire	150,000-200,000	East West Rail, East Coast Main Line, A428, A1(M)
Winslow	Buckinghamshire	15,000-25,000	East West Rail (opening next year)
Cheddington	Buckinghamshire	25,000-50,000	West Coast Main Line (extra capacity post- HS2)
Salfords	Surrey	37,500-75,000	Brighton Main Line (upgrade planned), M23
Greater Oxford	Oxfordshire	50,000-75,000	New Tramway, New station at Begbroke, Cherwell Valley Line, Oxford-Bicester Line, A34, A40
Iver	Buckinghamshire	20,000-30,000	Elizabeth Line, M25, M4
Hatfield Peverel	Essex	15,000-20,000	Great Eastern Main Line, A12 (upgrade planed)
Bristol Extension	Bristol, North Somerset, Gloucestershire	30,000-50,000	Portishead Branch Line, M4, A4174, Potential Mass Transit
Chippenham	Wiltshire	10,000	TransWilts rail (new passing loop at Melksham)
Greater York	North Yorkshire	25,000-50,000	Harrogate Line, York Outer Ring Road (upgrade planned), New tramway
Arden Cross (Birmingham Interchange)	West Midlands, Warwickshire	30,000-50,000	HS2, West Midlands Metro Extension, M42, A45
Reserve: South East Sheffield	South Yorkshire	15,000 - 30,000	Sheffield Metroland Supertram