Digging in on Labour’s New Towns

On the opening day of their annual party conference (28 September), the Government issued its initial response to the New Towns Taskforce alongside the publication of the Taskforce’s final report.

The Report sets out a comprehensive series of recommendations on how to plan and deliver new settlements of 10,000 homes or more. Central to this is the identification of twelve potential new town sites, selected through existing evidence, a call for submissions, and assessment against clear criteria. Each of these new towns has been recommended by the Taskforce for its potential to deliver on the following objectives: whether sites can unlock or support economic growth, accelerate housing delivery, provide housing for strong communities and contribute to transforming the way that large settlements are delivered.

In its response, the Government endorsed all twelve sites. Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook described them as ‘particularly promising as sites that might make significant contributions to unlocking economic growth and accelerating housing delivery’. Of these, three (Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill in north London) were singled out as extra promising for driving growth and accelerating housing delivery. The Government pledged to ‘get the spades in the ground’ on these within the lifetime of this Parliament. Final decisions, however, remain contingent on a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), due in Spring 2026, which will evaluate the environmental impacts of new town development. Alongside this, the Government has broadly committed to exploring the Taskforce’s recommendations through a set of formal processes.

As ever, the real test will be delivery. The Government’s response is arguably subdued on one of the Taskforce’s central points: the need for sustained consensus-building and public participation in both shaping and governing new communities. Without clear, national-level commitments to high standards in placemaking and delivery at the outset, the ambitions outlined risk slipping into aspirational rhetoric rather than actionable policy. On finance, the tone is equally cautious, while funding is promised in principle, detail is deferred.

Meanwhile, organisations such as the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) have welcomed both the Taskforce’s report and the Government’s ambition, but stress that success depends on more than hitting housing targets. As the CIH argues, new towns must ‘go beyond housing numbers to create sustainable, inclusive communities with appropriate services, transport, green spaces and a strong commitment to social and affordable homes’.