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New Towns Taskforce seeks views on suitable sites for developments of 10,000+ homes
The government’s New Towns Taskforce is seeking views on sites that would be suitable for large developments of 10,000 homes or more.
The taskforce, which launched a call for evidence on Monday, is interested in proposals that are “regionally significant” for both housing numbers and economic growth.
The role of the group, which had its first meeting in September, is to find and advise ministers on appropriate locations for significant new communities.
It aims to support the delivery of “the next generation of new towns” and hundreds of thousands of homes.
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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.
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