CIH response to the inquiry into Building New Towns: Practical Delivery

CIH welcomes the inquiry into the delivery of new towns, following the government’s commitment to begin construction of up to twelve new towns in this parliament. We have consistently made the case that large scale developments such as new towns are required to build the homes needed, as well as achieving multiple benefits for people and communities. We look forward to seeing the upcoming recommendations from the New Towns Taskforce, following their recently published update report.

The commitment to building new towns is a welcome and positive step toward boosting housing delivery in England. The UK Housing Review 2025 indicated that current levels of development are far below those required to reach the government’s 1.5 million new homes target with, in 2023/24, output falling nearly 80,000 net additional dwellings below the 300,000 needed.

At CIH, we welcome the government’s commitment to building 1.5 million homes. We have a desperate need for more affordable housing in this country, yet housebuilding has failed to keep pace with demand for years. At the same time, home ownership and social renting have fallen, while private renting (generally less secure and more expensive) has increased. Homelessness is at record levels and one in five children are living in overcrowded, unaffordable or unsuitable homes.

Alongside the government’s various planning reform announcements, such as the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the reintroduction of new towns will deliver large-scale developments for housing and infrastructure that will take us closer to meeting housing needs. All new reforms and plans for new towns must be aligned with the government’s upcoming long-term housing strategy, as well as the homelessness and industrial strategies. On a local level, new towns must be clearly aligned with local plans, supported housing plans, and plans to tackle homelessness, to ensure that developments are meeting local needs.

This is particularly crucial for the boosting of affordable housing numbers, especially homes for social rent, which are under considerable pressure. This must be a key focus in the planning of any new communities. The government has committed to developing social and affordable housing, with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner MP committing to “the biggest boost to affordable housing in a generation”. We wholly support this aim, and look forward to seeing the delivery of affordable housing as central in the delivery of new towns, especially of much needed social homes as the most truly affordable tenure and of supported housing, which faces significant and specific pressures.

The development of new towns provides a unique opportunity to promote genuine mixed-tenure communities, which will encourage social integration, build resilience, and reduce stigmas often associated with social housing. This should also include specialist and supported housing, to ensure that all needs of a community can be met now and in the future.

We also support the inquiry’s focus on five key values of wellbeing, accessibility, connectivity, sustainability and longevity. Each of these values represent a vital aspect of the delivery of good quality new towns and, if delivered, will ensure positive outcomes for future residents. In addition, we would encourage the inquiry to consider how these areas of focus should be reflected in the overarching vision and design principles for new towns. The Design Council has proposed the creation of Zero Carbon New Towns and an accompanying Zero Carbon New Towns Code, the guiding principles of which would be reducing car dependency, minimising the use of high carbon materials, prioritising biodiversity and ecological gain, and removing barriers to low-carbon building construction. Taking this approach has clear links to improving health and wellbeing, and will be important for ensuring that the construction of new towns do not risk jeopardising the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets.

It is important to note the areas of policy uncertainty which could impact on the delivery of new towns. We are waiting for the government’s updates on policies such as the Future Homes Standard, which will strengthen the sustainability requirements for new homes, and the finalisation of legislation with the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. There are also questions about the links between new towns and the government’s agenda for both devolution and local government reform, which may have significant impacts on the capacity of local authorities and the delivery of new housing. In addition, the construction of new towns must be factored into energy system planning, currently being undertaken by the National Energy System Operator (NESO). We look forward to more clarity on these areas in the upcoming Devolution Bill and the publication of the Spatial Strategic Energy Plan.

This uncertainty also stretches to the current economic landscape. The Regulator of Social Housing noted there is ‘reduced financial capacity’ in the housing sector, which extends to local authorities, housing associations, and other key institutions across the sector. More long-term certainty is required to ensure that all actors are able to play their role in delivering housing and new towns, such as the social housing rent settlement, measures to address temporary accommodation pressures, and grant funding within the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP). As part of our asks for the upcoming Spending Review, we have called for a £39 billion AHP, spread over five years and focused on social rent, which will ensure committed investment into achieving the much-needed boost of affordable housing development. We hope that the Spending Review will address these financial concerns for the sector, to ensure that there is sufficient capacity and certainty to begin the development of new towns in this parliament.

Finally, we must ensure that lessons are learned from previous development of new towns and garden cities to ensure success and long-term sustainability. Some of these findings are outlined in the Bennett Institute for Public Policy’s report, which has three key findings: providing a range of social infrastructure from the outset, the need for cross-sector collaboration, and considering the long-term management of social infrastructure. The Institute for Public Policy Research also released a review of lessons that could be learnt from new towns and growth areas, including the need for mixed housing communities and a vision for the new communities. We hope that by looking back at the lessons learned from history, we can ensure the development of new towns is successful, practical and sustainable.

With the agreement of the principle of new towns, it is crucial to ensure that there is a clear vision and holistic strategy for each new town, which must integrate planning for housing and infrastructure in a coherent and aligned approach.

Strategic planning will thus be crucial, and its inclusion in the recent National Planning Policy Framework was a positive step to ensure joined up thinking towards delivering sustainable and healthy communities in the long-term. This is more achievable through new towns, with the ability to ‘start from scratch’ (outlined further below) and effectively and efficiently plan a successful community from the outset. CIH covered these areas in detail in our submission to the new government’s NPPF consultation.

There is also a clear distinction between urban expansions and new towns, i.e. between the growth of existing communities and the commencement of new communities. Whilst we await the recommendations of locations by the New Towns Taskforce, it will be useful to determine through this inquiry the different approaches this may require and the specific advantages and challenges that may be anticipated. For example, urban expansions will have existing infrastructure which will help to progress construction and development. However, there must be additional infrastructure developed alongside this, to avoid backlogs and pressures on existing transport infrastructure, schools, GPs and wider services for local residents. There are also further reviews required for the expansion into green belt and the use of ‘grey belt’ land, which will require additional planning input.

Alternatively, new towns will be able to start from the outset with a fresh and creative perspective to ensure the new residents will have all the necessary infrastructure and access to green and blue spaces, to ensure a healthy community. This is crucial, and has a history of success with Milton Keynes consistently being recognised for its outcomes in health, economy and environment, as well as boosting employment, wages, housing growth and innovation. We have the opportunity to repeat such successes with upcoming new towns, and to do this we must ensure we are developing homes and places that are fit for the future and resilient to a changing climate.

Additionally, CIH continues to support the TCPA’s ‘Healthy Homes Principles’ which must be considered in the delivery of sustainable and healthy new towns. However, the development of new towns does come with specific challenges, such as the need to ensure the provision and extension of sustainable water, drainage and electricity infrastructure, and the need to house construction workers to deliver homes in a new area. Integrated infrastructure planning is vital to ensure that housing delivery and community wellbeing are designed for early in the process. These are obstacles which can be overcome if urban expansions and new towns are planned differently and appropriately.

There is also a need for strong governance and leadership to ensure that the strategic planning aims of new towns are achievable. Locally accountable New Town Development Corporations should have a clear remit to prioritise housing delivery and placemaking, and will need to encourage cross-sector partnerships to align public and private interests. It is positive to see that the government has outlined the role of Development Corporations in the recent Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and provided expansions and flexibility to their abilities.

Whilst we support the need to significantly boost the delivery of new homes, CIH have repeatedly outlined our concerns for the lack of skills, capacity and resource to achieve these outcomes. These points are further outlined in our submission to the new government’s NPPF consultation, and in our response to the government’s consultation on its new industrial strategy.

Local planning departments across England have faced significant reductions in staffing levels which have led reduced capacity and increased delays in the planning process. There has also been a loss of skills, such as ecological expertise, which can cause further delays and impact upon the ability to meet the necessary increased emphasis on sustainability and climate resilience.

These concerns on capacity and skills also extend to the construction sector. The construction sector is facing acute challenges due to Brexit and the pandemic, with one estimate suggesting it will need to attract the equivalent of 50,300 extra workers per year to meet expected levels of work between now and 2030. The CITB’s ‘Construction Skills Network’ report outlined the pressures and challenges around recruitment and training in the industry, with 61 per cent of construction employers stating that finding suitably skilled staff was their key challenge.

Whilst we welcome the government’s support on this issue, such as the Planning Skills Fund and additional funding for training construction workers, it must be considered that the inevitable gap in training new staff and delivering on site may cause delays to reaching the government’s target of 1.5 million homes, as well as in the development of new towns.

More widely, it is likely that our workforce needs for new towns (and for new housing more generally) cannot be met without the stabilisation and prospering of the construction sector as a whole. We support the detailed recommendations made by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) in their report on the future of the built environment, including their proposals to tackle late payment culture and utilise geographical clustering to boost the construction workforce across the UK.

For more information on the inquiry visit parliament’s website.

For more details on our response please contact Megan Hinch, policy manager, megan.hinch@cih.org.