The government is investigating building extra new towns to help meet its target of 1.5 million new homes by the end of this parliament, says housing minister Steve Reed.
Reed has committed to the government’s major homebuilding promise, and made his now infamous call on developers to “build baby, build”.
The minister was quizzed about the government’s homebuilding and housing delivery today by the Housing Committee.
Speaking to the committee, Reed hinted that the UK could see more than the currently announced 12 new towns.
Reed said that the government was talking to more council leaders that had shown interest in building a new town.
“We are working with some of those local leaders to see what’s possible,” Reed said.
When asked what he would say to critics of the government’s new towns, Reed said: “New towns are the chance of a generation. We can dream the future, and make it real.”
The currently announced new towns will have at least 10,000 homes each and be based in regions including Adlington, Tempsford, Milton Keynes and Thamesmead.
When asked about the government’s homebuilding strategy, Reed said: “It’s better to have housing targets than no targets. I’d rather have housing targets than tell local authorities not to bother, which is what the previous administration did.”
The minister, who replaced Angela Rayner in the role, said the government was bringing out further updates on its housing strategy, including homelessness, hopefully by Christmas or shortly afterwards.
Reed said he would be giving a speech in a few weeks’ time on housebuilding near train stations, where public transport links already exist.
