New Towns Taskforce seeks views on suitable sites for developments of 10,000+ homes

The government’s housing target for this parliament is 1.5 million homes.

The taskforce, whose members include Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation; Sir Michael Lyons, chair of the English Cities Fund; and Dame Kate Barker, who led the 2004 Barker Review of Housing Supply, is expected to report back on potential locations to ministers by July 2025. 

A central part of the group’s work will be to consider how to fund and deliver new settlements.

It is also tasked with creating a ‘new towns code’, which developers will have to follow to “ensure new towns are great places to live and will include the golden rule of 40% affordable housing”.

The call for evidence said: “The unifying principle will be that each of the new settlements will contain 10,000 homes, at the very least, and that most, if not all, will be far larger in size. We are aiming for a gold standard of 40% affordable housing.”

The new towns must be “well-connected, well-designed, sustainable and attractive places where people want to live and have all the infrastructure, amenities and services necessary to sustain thriving communities”, it said. 

The taskforce will also be drawing on other data, including undertaking its own spatial analysis, to inform its recommendations about new towns. 

There is no limit on the number of potential developments organisations can submit. The call for evidence will be open until 13 December.