Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s ambitious plan to kickstart the largest housebuilding programme since the postwar period by creating new towns across England has been met with skepticism by experts from the urban policy thinktank Centre for Cities. According to their analysis, such programs only accounted for a small percentage of housebuilding in the 40 years following the 1946 New Towns Act, making it challenging for the government to meet its target of building 1.5 million homes over the next five years.
Rayner’s announcement of a new towns taskforce, headed by Sir Michael Lyons and Dame Kate Barker, aims to recommend appropriate locations for new towns within the next 12 months. The government plans to build large communities of at least 10,000 homes each, with a significant portion designated as affordable housing.
However, experts warn that significantly more new towns and urban extensions would be needed to achieve the government’s ambitious target. The analysis by Centre for Cities also suggests that imposing housing targets on local councils and making top-down decisions by central government may be necessary to boost housebuilding in some areas.
Despite the challenges, the government remains optimistic about the potential of new towns to deliver much-needed affordable housing in the future. A government spokesperson emphasized that new towns are just one part of a comprehensive plan to address the housing crisis and that 1.5 million homes will be delivered in this parliament through an overhaul of the planning system. The success of the new towns program will depend on a combination of targeted initiatives and broader reforms to make the planning system more effective and predictable nationwide.
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