Keir Starmer will set out his vision for a new generation of towns in England – with access to GPs, schools, nurseries and vital transport links – in bid to tackle housing crisis
Spades will be in the ground in up to a dozen new towns across the country by the time of the general election as Labour seeks to tackle the housing crisis.
Keir Starmer will on Thursday set out his vision for the new generation of towns in England – with access to GPs, schools, nurseries and vital transport links. Billed as the biggest housebuilding scheme since the post-war era, each of the new towns could deliver at least 10,000 homes, the government said.
Over 100 sites in England have so far come forward for the new towns with decisions expected after the spending review in the summer. The Mirror understands between 10 and 12 areas will be given the green-light.
Downing Street said they will be “well-designed, beautiful communities with affordable housing, GP surgeries, schools and public transport where people will want to live.”
The PM, who joined the King on a visit to his own housing project in Cornwall on Monday, said he was “really interested” in the monarch’s development. He said: “I was struck by the quality of the build, the variety, particularly struck by the fact you couldn’t tell which were social housing.”
Mr Starmer also said the government’s aim for the new towns is for at least 40% of homes to be affordable, including social housing”. The New Towns scheme forms part of plans to tackle the housing emergency and Labour’s stretching target to build 1.5million new homes this Parliament.
The PM, who will visit a housing development on Thursday, said he will have wanted “to start the construction work” on new towns by the next election.
He added: “For so many families, homeownership is a distant dream. After a decade of decline in housebuilding, the impact is a disconnect between working hard and getting on. This is about more than just bricks and mortar. It’s about the security and stability that owning your own home bring. I know what this means for working people – the roof above our head was everything for our family growing up.”
He said the government has already unblocked 20,000 homes stuck in planning limbo since Labour came to power under a separate project, adding: “There’s more to do. We’re urgently using all levers available to build the homes we need so more families can get on the housing ladder.
“We’re sweeping aside the blockers to get houses built, no longer accepting no as the default answer, and paving the way for the next generation of new towns. As part of the largest housebuilding programme since the post-war era, our ambitious Plan for Change will transform the lives of working people, once again connecting the basic principle that if you work hard, you should get on.”
Shortly after winning the election last year, the government appointed Sir Michael Lyons to spearhead the programme and find the “right places” to build communities. A final report will be delivered to ministers in the summer with recommendations for the locations of news towns out of the 100 sites.
Deputy PM Angela Rayner said: “I will not run away from the tough choices to fix the housing crisis we inherited that has left thousands of families on housing waiting lists, allowed homelessness to spiral out of control, and stopped an entire generation from picking up the keys to their first home. ”
Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter, said: “New towns were once built on the back of social housing – they brought affordability and stability to thousands of families for the first time and allowed communities to grow and thrive. It is vital to put social homes at the core of these new towns or they will be doomed to fail.”
She added: “New towns are a huge opportunity for the government to tackle housing need and provide local communities with homes they can actually afford to live in. The government must commit serious investment at the spending review in June to drive up building to the scale the country desperately needs.”
