“Build baby build” – New Towns Taskforce report officially launched

The New Towns Taskforce recently published its report to the UK Government, marking a pivotal moment in the journey to large-scale housing delivery by this Parliament.

To represent CLA members, I attended the launch of this event at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Westminster this week, where Steve Reed gave a speech and repeated his rallying cry of “build, baby, build”. The report not only identifies 12 locations proposed for town designation but also outlines the principles recommended by the taskforce for guiding the development of these new towns.

The taskforce was chaired by Sir Michael Lyons and Dame Kate Barker, both longstanding advisers on housing and the economy. It is of little surprise therefore that the core principles recommended in the report were unlikely to send shock waves of innovation and surprise to those who read it. The report sets out that new towns should be:

1. Vision-led, with
2. ambitious density, of
3. affordable housing and balanced communities, served by 
4. social infrastructure, to create 
5. healthy and safe places, supported by
6. environmental sustainability, and
7. transport connectivity, to support
8. business creation and employment opportunities, with
9. stewardship, and 
10. community engagement.

This may not be how most new developments have been delivered in the past, but most people would accept that these principles are common-sense. Some may argue that landowners and developers have attempted to deliver in this way but are held back by an onerous planning system and poor administration of critical infrastructure. 

Nevertheless, the government’s recognition that these principles will be at the heart of new towns is positive.

A call for evidence by the taskforce sought submissions of sites with the potential for at least 10,000 homes, for which they received over 100 responses. The majority of these sites were urban extensions to existing towns or cities, with a small number of proposals for new standalone settlements. The taskforce was open to all sizeable development to be identified as a new town, the panel therefore judged submissions based on: 

1. The ability to relieve growth constraints in ‘overheating’ areas
2. Ability to attract investment and talent to places which are already growing, but not yet overheating
3. How they would support agglomeration of England’s major cities
4. The proportion of land in large single ownership
5. Existing or potential transport connections and relevant infrastructure support
6. Value for money on any public investment
7. Ability to move into planning stages within this Parliament
8. Capacity to continue to support sustained population growth into the future
9. Ability to deliver an acceptable ratio of affordable housing (a target of 40% affordable of which half is social housing)
10. Good placemaking potential, demonstrating climate resilience and the opportunity to deliver quality green spaces

With this long wish-list, it’s not surprising that the majority of sites identified by the report are already in the early stages of planning, and most are extensions or infill in larger settlements, with only three new standalone settlements.

The new standalone settlements recommended are: Adlington in Cheshire East, Marlcombe in East Devon, and Tempsford in Bedfordshire. 

Elsewhere, the expansion of existing development plans are recommended for: Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc in South Gloucestershire, Chase Park and Crews Hill in Enfield, Heyford Park at Cherwell to connect to Oxford, and Worcestershire Parkway in Wychavon. 

The remaining five locations are for urban densification in: Leeds city centre, Manchester Victoria North, Milton Keynes, Plymouth, and Greenwich in London. 

While the taskforce’s principles for new town developments seem eminently sensible, the CLA is concerned by the recommendations within the report regarding land acquisition and assembly. There has long been concerns that to deliver new towns the government will rely on the use of already available compulsory purchase powers, and the report does not shy away from acknowledging that this is a way to acquire land at an early stage so that the government can capture some uplift in value. 

However, the report does note that “the availability of compulsory purchase should be used carefully to ensure that negotiated prices are reasonable, but provide an important backstop where attempts to acquire land through pooling existing publicly owned land and negotiated acquisitions are not successful on the scale required by a new town.” Albeit this is simply an acknowledgement of the legal system which protects the rights of property owners and requires compulsory purchase to be preceded by genuine attempts to deliver public outcomes through negotiated agreements with landowners. It should not be read as a plea to the government to be restrained in its use of compulsory acquisition.

Steve Reed cried “build, baby, build” at the taskforce report launch and reiterated that there will be spades in the ground for three of the locations within the lifetime of this Parliament. Which sites this will be are yet to be announced. The government will publish draft proposals and strategic environmental assessments for each site alongside wider public consultation in spring 2026 before it is decided on the final locations.

The taskforce recommended the listed sites because of their ability to be mobilised quickly, largely because they have a single landowner and are already in early planning stages. This should be encouraging to most CLA members, as it is unlikely that landowners unaware of a new town will suddenly be surprised by offers to purchase their land. However, if you own land in the locality of one of the 12 locations, please do not hesitate to contact the CLA for advice if you are concerned about the impact of new development on your business.

The CLA will continue to advocate for real land values to be paid and full compensation and engagement in land acquisition. We currently have an amendment drafted to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill tabled by Lord Carrington to introduce a compulsory purchase code of practice.

Of course, new towns are not the only new development that is needed, and we continue to lobby for the delivery of a small number of new houses in a large number of villages.