Following the recent announcement of the Taskforce’s recommendations of the 12 locations that will be the focus of the next new towns, industry group, The Housing Forum, has published a new report looking at what we can learn from recent efforts at large-scale development.
The report is being launched at The Housing Forum's National Conference.
Much of the Taskforce’s inspiration has come from the post-war generation of new towns, which were centrally driven by Whitehall in a planned manner. However, when you look at the more recent history of larger-scale housing developments, it is clear that this centrally-led model is just one route among many.
The Housing Forum’s cross-sectional membership are involved in all aspects of housing delivery – including designing, planning, building and managing new housing. This report draws on this expertise to highlight how the variety of different ways in which new towns can grow – planned, developer-led and incrementally.
The case studies include different models which are all generating new housing supply – though they also highlight the problems of housing growth without sufficient strategy and masterplanning at an early stage. Both their successes and shortcomings present learning opportunities for future new towns:
- New towns will grow over decades, so flexibility for the future needs to be built in, and the details evolve as the town grows.
- New towns should offer a variety of sizes, tenures and types of housing, including market homes, shared ownership, social rent, community-led models and build to rent.
- New towns aren’t just about housing; education, business and industry are part of the mix in any new town. Transport upgrades provided early appear to be closely linked to positive outcomes.
- Much more than in earlier decades, a new generation of new towns and settlements provides the opportunity to deliver climate positive communities, lower cost living and regenerative design.
The Housing Forum is sharing this report with our members across the housing sector, and with policymakers and those in other sectors, who all need to come together to build the new quality homes and affordable housing that we need.
Shelagh Grant, Chief Executive of The Housing Forum said: “The Housing Forum exists to promote the delivery of quality homes for all. The New Towns programme is an exciting way to plan for the long-term future of homes and communities. But we don’t just need to look back in history to learn what works – there is much to learn from the experiences today across the housing sector of building large-scale urban extensions and new settlements. These can show us how the potential pitfalls and help us build successful communities with quality new homes for everyone.”
Victor Nicholls, Lecturer in Development and Planning at the Henley Business School, University of Reading said: “This timely report reflects on the challenges and opportunities of delivering sustainable placemaking. It offers practical lessons via a series of case studies representing different delivery models and highlights the benefits unlocked by high-quality, affordable, and sustainable housing. As the country is poised to embark on developing a new generation of new towns, this report should prove hugely valuable in setting out detailed, practical experiences and lessons to take on board.”
