Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question 16954 on New Towns, whether a requirement to have a New Town will be imposed on local planning authorities if (a) they do not consent to the proposed development and (b) the town development is not currently in their Local Plan.

The government has tasked the New Towns Taskforce, an independent expert advisory panel chaired by Sir Michael Lyons, with developing recommendations to ministers on suitable locations for new towns, as well as how to fund and deliver them. The Taskforce will submit its final report this summer.

As set out in its Terms of Reference, which can be found on gov.uk here, the New Towns Taskforce will work in partnership with local leaders and communities, but its selection of sites will be made in the national interest.

Not least because construction of the next generation of new towns will only begin toward the end of this Parliament, the government has been clear that they will deliver over and above the targets produced by the standard method. However, we will make sure that the right incentives are in place to support proactive local authorities to work with us to bring new towns forward and will keep under review how the Taskforce’s forthcoming recommendations on new towns interact with housing targets across England.

New towns will be well-connected, well-designed, environmentally sustainable, and attractive places where people want to live and have all the infrastructure, amenities and services necessary to sustain thriving communities, including a gold standard aim of 40% affordable and social housing, with an emphasis on social rent.

As there may be political or commercial sensitivities to information submitted regarding prospective developments, the New Towns Taskforce will not be sharing information about the evidence base of locations prior to publication of the final report.