The Housing Department will impose the next step to build 12 new UK towns, after a staff member named the location that can add 300,000 homes.
Housing Minister Steve Reed unveiled the list in a speech at the Labor Conference in Liverpool on Sunday, covering sites in Manchester, London and Devon.
He added that construction work will be done at three locations before the next election – Templeford, Bedfordshire, London’s Crew Hill and Leeds South Bank.
“I will start the next generation of new towns and learn from the post-war Labor government housing boom … Mobilize the full strength of the state, build a new generation of new towns and restore the dream of home ownership for thousands of families across the country,” Reed said.
Reed wore a red baseball cap with the word “Build, Baby,” built on the conference podium, which soon became the spell of the new housing secretary.
More than a dozen new towns should own at least 10,000 homes and have at least 40% affordable housing ambitions, half of which will be spent on social rents.
The list was drafted by the New Towns Taskce led by Sir Michael Lyons, a staff member commissioned by the government last September to choose to develop the website.
The Ministry of Housing said the working group “recommends to establish large communities, including urban expansion, urban regeneration and independent green space sites.”
Reed added that a new township department will be established for development. He added that the department will work with all departments and their agencies to ensure that new towns are innovative test beds and remove delivery barriers.
According to a report by consulting firm WPI strategy, the cost of building twelve new towns could be as high as £48 billion.
A strategic environmental assessment will be conducted to understand the environmental impacts of developing new towns.
The Housing Department said that a final decision on the location will not be made until the assessment is concluded.
It added: “The government will release draft proposals and final marine consultation in the spring before confirming that new towns will develop soon after.
“This will be in line with the government’s comprehensive response to the report of the New Town Working Group.”
New home staff estimates that more than a dozen recommended locations could contribute “at least 300,000 new homes” in the coming years.
Labor’s new town plan is a key part of its goal to build 1.5 million new homes by the next election.
Earlier this month, the House of Lords Building Environment Committee said Labor’s new town plan “needs to need a clear, engaging vision to explain the purpose of these new towns, the goals they aim to achieve, and their importance”.
12 development sites for the new housing workgroup:
- Independence settlement in Adlington, East Cheshire
- Braba Zon and West Innovation Arc to connect development corridors
- Expanded development brings Chase Park and Crews Hill in Enfield, London
- Reconstruction of a former Air Force Base in Highford Park in Chelwell
- Further urban development in Leeds
- Development in Manchester city center in northern Victoria
- Independence settlements in Malcolm, East Devon
- A “renewal town” by Milton Keynes
- The dense development of Plymouth
- New settlements in Templeford, Central Bedfordshire
- Riverside settlement in Thamesmead, Greenwich, London
- Wychavon’s Worcestershire Parkway expands development
