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ER Editor: Is this true or just posturing? If it’s real, this might actually be a Good Thing.
And from Saturday, The Guardian has this —
Plan to build 12 new towns in England to be unveiled at Labour conference
“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.”
Locations under consideration include Tempsford, Bedfordshire, Crews Hill, north London and Leeds South Bank, though final decisions are yet to be made.
Each new town is expected to have at least 10,000 properties as well as GP surgeries, schools, green spaces and transport links. The taskforce will suggest that about 40% of the dwellings should be affordable homes, with 20% earmarked for social housing, it is understood.
Academics say Britain faces a shortage of about 4.3m homes, and there are record numbers of people living in temporary accommodation. Labour has pledged to build 1.5m new properties before the next general election, although analysts have cast doubt on whether this target is achievable.
This reporting, however, has history. This Guardian article goes back to February of this year —
Work on up to 12 new towns in England to begin by next election, says government
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In the BBC report below about the Labour Party conference, we can find a MAGA reference. Gasp!
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Building of three new towns will start before election, Labour pledges
JENNIFER McKIERNAN & BECKY MORTON for BBC
The construction of three new towns will begin before the next general election, Labour has pledged.
A taskforce has recommended 12 locations in England for development, with three areas – Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill in north London – identified as the most promising sites.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed announced the plans in a speech on the opening day of Labour’s annual party conference.
EPA Housing Secretary Steve Reed wears a Build Baby Build capLabour has put housebuilding at the centre of its vision of how to get the economy growing, promising to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
The announcement comes as Labour members gather in Liverpool for the annual conference.
A cabinet reshuffle, prompted by the resignation of Angela Rayner after she resigned for failing to pay enough tax on a flat purchase, saw Reed moved into the role of housing secretary.
…
Supporters had filled the front row of the hall wearing red MAGA-style hats reading “build baby build” during his speech, and Reed put on his own baseball cap with a smile as he made the same pledge at the end of his speech.
However, the industry has warned the government faces huge challenges to reach the government’s proposed target, with housebuilders facing pressures including rising costs and taxes.
Meanwhile, recent figures showed the number of planning approvals for new homes in England fell to a record low during Labour’s first year in office.
The promise of a “new generation of new towns” was included in Labour’s election manifesto last year.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants to “sweep aside the blockers to get homes built” and prevent home ownership being “a distant dream”.
He is emulating the Labour government of Clement Attlee, who planned the first wave of new towns after World War Two to relocate people from poor or bombed-out housing to developments including in Stevenage and Crawley.
…
The 12 proposed developments range from large-scale standalone new communities, to expansions of existing towns and regeneration schemes within cities.
Sites in Cheshire, South Gloucestershire, East Devon, Plymouth and Manchester are among those which have been recommended for development.
The chosen sites will be subject to environmental assessments and consultation, with the government confirming the final locations and funding next spring.
Labour said each new town would have at least 10,000 homes and they could collectively result in 300,000 homes being built across England over the coming decades.
The government has welcomed a recommendation from the New Towns Taskforce that at least 40% of these new homes should be classed as affordable housing.
A New Towns Unit will be tasked with bringing in millions of pounds of public and private sector funding to invest in GP surgeries, schools, green spaces, libraries and transport for the new developments.
…
Where could the next new towns be?
The New Towns Taskforce has recommended 12 locations are taken forward by the government:
- A standalone settlement in Adlington, Cheshire East
- A corridor of development in South Gloucestershire, across Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc
- A development bringing together Chase Park and Crews Hill in Enfield, north London
- Redevelopment of the former airbase at Heyford Park in Cherwell, Oxfordshire
- An urban development in the South Bank area of Leeds
- New homes in Victoria North, on the edge of Manchester city centre
- A standalone settlement in Marlcombe, East Devon
- A renewal of Milton Keynes city centre and an expansion of its periphery, alongside a new mass transit system
- Densified development in Plymouth
- A new settlement in Tempsford, Bedfordshire
- A riverside settlement in Thamesmead, south-east London
- Expanded development around Worcestershire Parkway train station
CONTINUE READING HERE
Featured image source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/feb/12/up-to-12-new-towns-will-be-under-construction-in-england-by-next-election-says-starmer
Featured image source: https://www.pbctoday.co.uk/news/planning-construction-news/labour-announces-new-towns-code-with-40-affordable-housing-targets/139837/
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Published to UK Reloaded from Europe Reloaded
See Related Article Below
Keir Starmer announces plans for 12 new towns as beleaguered PM bids to restore ‘dream of home ownership’ to Brits – amid threat of Reform landslide
Sir Keir Starmer has announced plans for 12 new towns across the UK ahead of a tense party conference for the beleaguered Prime Minister as Reform continue to surge in the opinion polls.
The plans could deliver up to 300,000 new homes as the Prime Minister attempts to finally bring some good news to struggling families.
Among 12 sites which have been identified as areas for new towns, three have been described as the most promising.
The party is due to start work in Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank in West Yorkshire and Crews Hill in Greater London before the next general election.
However locals in Tempsford claimed they had not been informed about the plans and said there is a lack of infrastructure in the village, including no phone signal, as well as regular flooding in the area, could present a problem for a huge development.
The Prime Minister told the Sunday Times the new towns were the ‘physical embodiment of national renewal’.
He added: ‘It speaks particularly to those people under the age of 40 who have been locked out of the dream of home ownership.
‘That means that people haven’t got their base camp; that security for them and their family, which speaks to a wider piece, which is this sort of disenchantment with politics: the sense that politics can’t deliver.’
Housing Secretary Steve Reed is set to announce the plans in a speech on the opening day of the Labour party conference.
Each town will have at least 10,000 homes with at least 40 per cent affordable housing and half for social rent.
In total, 12 sites across Britain have been earmarked for the development of new towns.
Among the dozen locations are sites in Cheshire, Manchester, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Plymouth and London.
It could collectively result in 300,000 houses being built across England.
In its manifesto, Labour pledged to begin work on 1.5 million new homes over the course of the Parliament, to expand homeownership to more Britons.
In his speech, BBC News said the housing secretary will echo Donald Trump by pledging to ‘build baby build’, while ‘taking lessons from the post-war Labour government housing boom’.
Clement Attlee’s government in 1945 resulted in the biggest increase in housebuilding in the country’s history.
The announcement comes amid a crisis for Labour as Reform threatens a landslide in the next election.
[…]
However locals in some of the areas say they have been left in the dark over the plans to create entire towns on their doorstep.
One parish council chairman whose countryside village has been identified as a likely site for the construction of a new town said: ‘Nobody’s come to talk to us at all.’
The chairman of the parish council in Tempsford, which is home to 600 people and 300 houses, said residents have no idea what to expect or prepare for.
David Sutton said: ‘The biggest problem we’ve got at the moment is that even today, as an announcement’s being made, we’ve been given no idea whatsoever of the scale of what we’re being asked to live amongst.’
Earlier this year the Government confirmed plans to build a new train station at Tempsford to provide connections between the East Coast Main Line and East West Rail.
‘Nobody’s come to talk to us at all,’ Mr Sutton said. ‘Nobody’s given us any indication whether it’s the rumoured 10,000 houses from before, 20,000, 40,000 was heard a couple of years ago, and last year 125,000, so what is it?’
The Mail: continue reading
Featured image: iStock
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