Twelve ‘new towns’ could be built across England after the government revealed their potential locations.
Labour has even earmarked the three ‘most promising’ sites in a bid to hit its 1.5million new homes by 2029 target.
The government hopes to start building at least three new towns before the next general election, scheduled for August 2029.
Sites at Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank and Crews Hill in North London, seem especially favourable ‘at this stage’, the government said.
But no final decision has been made and nine other proposed locations include Manchester, Marlcombe in East Devon and South Gloucestershire.
The new towns could be regenerations or extensions of existing urban areas, such as in Manchester and Plymouth.
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Others would be entirely new developments on unoccupied rural land, known as greenfield sites.
Government plans mean each new town should have at least 10,000 homes including 40% affordable housing.
Of those affordable homes, half would be social rent, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Steve Reed, the new Housing Secretary following Angela Rayner’s resignation, is expected to compare the plans to Britain’s post-war housing boom.
Where are the government’s proposed new towns?
The three ‘most promising’ locations
Tempsford, Central Bedfordshire
Leeds South Bank, West Yorkshire
Crews Hill, North London
The nine other sites
Adlington, Cheshire East
South Gloucestershire, across Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc
Heyford Park, Cherwell
Victoria North, Manchester
Marlcombe, East Devon
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Plymouth, Devon
Thamesmead, Greenwich
Worcestershire Parkway, Wychavon
‘I am launching the next generation of new towns taking the lessons from the postwar Labour government housing boom, mobilising the full power of the state to build a new generation of new towns,’ Mr Reed is expected to tell the Labour Party Conference this week, according to The Guardian.
The New Towns Taskforce, led by Sir Michael Lyons, was commissioned by the government to explore different locations.
The plans have received a mixed response from local authorities that would host the new sites.
Tempsford’s parish council chairman David Sutton said nobody from the government had ‘come to talk to us at all’.
But East Devon District Council said it was ‘enormously proud’ of Marlcombe’s selection.
Experts say housebuilding has endured a rocky start under Labour.
In June, an industry report by real estate company Savills said the government was on course to build 840,000 homes over five years – 42% short of its target.
The most recent data from the Office for National Statistics shows that just 32,560 homes were completed in the first three months of this year – the lowest recorded since the pandemic.
But earlier this month, Mr Reed insisted the government remained ‘absolutely committed’ to its target.
His predecessor Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner resigned after the prime minister’s ethics adviser found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been approached for comment.
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