Rayner sets out Labour's plan for next generation of New Towns

Building on Labour's first step towards the economic growth mission, Deputy Leader Angela Rayner will pledge homes fit for the future with a new generation of New Towns.    

In a keynote speech to property industry leaders at the UKREiiF conference in Leeds [Tuesday], Rayner will tell developers that Labour's new era for private sector involvement in housing development means “backing developers who deliver.”   

The Shadow Housing Secretary will tell the Conference that a Labour government will set high standards on design, quality, affordable homes, green spaces and infrastructure.    

Labour's Deputy Leader will set out plans for the next generation of New Towns, echoing those built by the first Labour government after World War Two, as a crucial part of the party's plan to build homes fit for the future.    

Rayner will set out Labour's criteria for the New Towns, pledging to work in partnership with “responsible”' developers willing to deliver affordable homes accompanied by green spaces, schools, and transport links.     

Labour will identify New Towns as just one tool that Labour will deploy to meet its ambition of building 1.5 million new homes across Britain over the next Parliament, the Shadow Housing Secretary will say.  

Her intervention comes as house building has plummeted under the Tories, with fewer than 70,000 planning applications approved in the last quarter of 2023 – the worst period on record, with fewer developments now green-lit than during the height of the pandemic.    

The Shadow Housing Secretary will say that Labour will learn the lessons of the post-war period where the government proactively planned for housing growth at a strategic scale, benefitting from decades of miracle growth.      

Labour last week set out the ‘first steps' a Labour government would take to deliver on their missions, with the party signaling housebuilding as crucial to lighting the touchpaper of growth.    

Angela Rayner MP, Labour's Deputy Leader and Shadow Housing Secretary, said:     

“Labour's New Towns are just one part of our ambitious house-building agenda which will see swathes of good quality, affordable houses built in the national interest.    

“Developers who deliver on their obligations to build high quality, well designed and sustainable affordable housing, with green spaces and transport links and schools and GPs surgeries nearby, will experience a new dawn under Labour. But those who have wriggled out of their responsibilities for too long will be robustly held to account.    

“Labour's towns of the future will be built on the foundations of our past. The post-war period taught us that when the government plays a strategic role in housebuilding, we can turbo-charge growth to the benefit of working people across Britain. That is what Labour's plans will achieve.”    

Ends  

Notes:

Labour is committed to delivering the next generation of New Towns, and we want to hit the ground running delivering homes on these sites within the first term of a Labour government.  

In building these homes, we will work with the grain of development in any given area. We will explore expanding settlements through urban regeneration projects and more urban extensions, as well as genuinely New Towns.   

Labour will ensure these new settlements meet the highest standard of good design and sustainable living. Labour's New Towns Code will mean that each new development must deliver:  

• Affordable housing: With a gold standard target of 40% affordable, including a mix of social, council, and other tenures.  

• Characterful design: Robust design codes for beautiful buildings and tree-lined streets, that fit in with nearby areas and pay attention to local history and identity.  

• Fit for the future layouts: High density housing to efficiently use available land, with good links to town and city centres.  

• Infrastructure first: Guarantees that new houses means new transport links, healthcare and schools.   

• Green spaces: Access to nature and parks, embedded greenery, and new facilities for kids to play and families to exercise.  

A summary of planning decisions, year ending  December 2023, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/planning-applications-in-england-october-to-december-2023/planning-applications-in-england-october-to-december-2023-statistical-release  

Full data tables for planning applications can be found in tab LT_P120 from Tables P120 to P138: district planning authority tables here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-planning-application-statistics  

Between October to December 2023, the most recent quarter of data available, district level planning authorities in England:    

• Received 85,200 applications for planning permission, down 9 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier  

• Decided 80,700 applications for planning permission, down 12 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier
• Granted 68,900 decisions, down 13 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier – below the previous low of 71,647 applications granted in the second quarter of 2020.  

In the year ending December 2023, district level planning authorities:    

• Granted 293,000 decisions, down 13 per cent from the year ending December 2022

• Granted 32,500 residential applications, down 9 per cent from the year ending December 2022.