New Towns – The Future for New Housing Development?

Following the recent New Towns Taskforce visit to Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, we consider how viable these new developments will be…

New Towns Taskforce

The chair of the new New Towns Taskforce, which held its first meeting in Milton Keynes, has identified that the area nearby has ‘considerable potential’ as the site of a New Town, due to its location in the M1 corridor and between Oxford and Cambridge.

However, he added that no locations had as yet been identified. The Taskforce met in the city to learn more about how it had been developed and what lessons could be learned from its development over the years.

One key point he raised was that funding the maintenance of infrastructure was important, in order to avoid the new towns becoming a ‘burden on later generations’, especially when large swathes of development are all built at once.

Paul Smith, from Milton Keynes-based Apex Planning Consultants, comments: ’I believe this is very pertinent. MK was built at pace, and it means large areas have aged at the same time and even now after just 40-50 years they are largely outdated and need to be replaced at huge cost. As such, if a new town is to come forward, maintenance is key, but so too is the need for architecture and planning to look far forwards to where technology, living requirements, amenity requirements, travel patterns and modes of transport are concerned. They need to factor in lifetime standards so the buildings (including homes, places of work and leisure) are truly adaptable and repairable too. This would help to minimise the need for wholesale demolition and redevelopment, which is environmentally and financially costly.’

Learnings from Northstowe

But while the New Town Taskforce goes about its work, it’s unlikely that Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million houses in five years is going to be fulfilled solely by the creation of said New Towns. For example, the residents of Northstowe in Cambridgeshire, had been sold the dream of a thriving community in the first new town in the UK since Milton Keynes was built. Six years on, however, and only 1,480 homes have been built, far short of the 10,000 promised, and while there are three schools and a pub, there is no sign of a GP’s surgery or shops.

That said, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Northstowe, with Homes England appointing profit-with-purpose developer, TOWN, to deliver a new cohousing community there. TOWN is now in the process of building a group of future residents, who will help to shape the new cohousing community through a codesign process. The plan is to include 40% affordable housing, as well as communal spaces and facilities.

Workforce and Collaboration

But there are other hurdles in the way of New Towns. David Hopkins, a Conservative councillor in Milton Keynes City Council, pointed out that the prospect of major new housing and transport developments nearby should prompt a pause in the local authority putting together its next local plan, as new major developments could see the council having to ‘quite literally tear up and start again’.

The impact on the planning industry also can’t be ignored. The government has pledged funding for 300 junior planning officers for councils, but this adds up to less than one per council. As Paul notes: ’This will not accelerate the planning and development industry. In any event, it will take time to encourage and secure the recruitment of the 300 planners, particularly as many in the profession are growing increasingly undervalued. The stress and pay conditions experienced in council planning departments is often cited for the reasons so many leave and it is then difficult to recruit to fill the gap.’

Without an efficient and well-resourced planning system, and a lot less red tape, the drive to build new homes will not be accelerated. Paul adds: ’We need councils and council planning officers and elected members who are truly welcoming of housing developments, that are pragmatic and willing to find solutions to problems. Of course, developers must recognise their role in helping the council to achieve this objective too. This may in part mean paying reasonable prices for land, rather than acquiring land at any cost. Landowners should be encouraged to recognise the need for more realistic land valuations.’

Finally, the workforce is needed to actually build these new homes, and skilled workers in the construction industry are in short supply. Apprenticeships need to be more widely available, and funding for education in this sector also needs to be addressed.

Next Steps

The government’s New Towns Taskforce will deliver a list of potential locations for new settlements to ministers by next July. The ‘call for evidence‘ as detailed via the link runs until 13 December 2024.

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