The House of Lords Built Environment Committee said it was “impressed by the thoroughness and depth” of the task force’s report and was “pleased to see” how closely it matched its own conclusions and the recommendations that will be made in its own new towns report, which is due to be published in mid-October.
It comes after the Ministry of Housing and Local Government said it would work with the “next generation of new towns” across England, with the independent report from the New Towns Taskforce recommending 12 locations for development.
The independent report also looked at different approaches to large-scale developments, recommending urban extensions, urban regeneration, and standalone greenfield sites.
The report added that each town should have at least 10,000 homes and a minimum of 40% affordable housing, of which half will be social rent.
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‘Much work to do’
The committee praised the “evident enthusiasm” of the Secretary of State for Housing, Steve Reed, and is “hopeful that there will be real progress with the new towns programme during this Parliament”.
However, the committee warned that this optimism should be “tempered by a degree of caution”.
“Without the commitment to significant additional central government funding, the programme will struggle to deliver any viable new towns or expanded settlements,” it said.
The committee noted that the government’s response makes it clear that it “still has much work to do in terms of establishing its roadmap for the programme”.
It said that it hoped that the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the potential locations is a “genuine first step towards getting spades in the ground”.
Lord Gascoigne, chair of the House of Lords Built Environment Committee, said: “I am very pleased to see how carefully and deeply the task force has fulfilled its remit to produce a detailed and rigorous report. I am even more pleased to see how closely the task force recommendations echo those of the Built Environment Committee.
“In particular, the alignment between the committee and the task force on issues such as community involvement, stewardship, and the opportunity to test new ways of funding infrastructure shows that the government should be bold in taking forward thinking on these issues.
“The Secretary of State has committed to ‘build, baby, build!’. My challenge to him is to follow through on this promise and do so to the highest standards. The country urgently needs a visionary housebuilding programme that captures the public’s imagination and delivers the ambition and quality of the post-war New Towns Programme. Now is the time to act.”
