The housing secretary unveiled the site of England’s next 12 new towns at the weekend, which could hold as many as 300,000 homes.    

But what next? 

Steve Reed, at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Sunday, said the sites span areas in Manchester, London and Devon that should be built by 2050. 

But he added that building work in three areas  – Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Crews Hill in London and Leeds South Bank – would begin before the next election.   

Savills head of office, planning, Charlie Collins points out that “the mechanisms to achieve planning permission” is key to a speedy process. 

Collins says: “This could be a conventional route via the submission of planning applications to local planning authorities, or through the creation of development corporations, or even an Act of Parliament, such as the use of a special development order.” 

He adds that whatever route is used, ministers must “address the complexities of such large projects, as well as embedding best practice sustainability, design quality and environmental enhancement.  

“Achieving these objectives and convincing local stakeholders and residents of the benefits, is essential if this programme is to avoid the pitfalls associated with similar past programmes like that for garden villages and eco-towns.” 

The list of sites was drawn up by the new towns taskforce, led by Sir Michael Lyons, which was commissioned by the government last September to pick sites for development. 

The new towns should hold “at least” 10,000 homes with an ambition for a minimum of 40% affordable housing, and half of which will be for social rent.   

The housing department confirmed that strategic environmental assessments will be undertaken for all dozen sites to understand the environmental implications of developing new towns.   

It added: “The government will publish the draft proposals and final strategic environmental assessment for consultation in the spring, before confirming the locations that will be progressed as new towns soon after.”   

However, Savills’ Collins points out that strategic environmental assessments are not a box-ticking exercise. 

He says: “Those with memories that go back to regional plans will recall that being location-specific in a strategic document leaves such decisions open to the risk of judicial review.   

“The strategic environmental assessment is therefore a necessary process albeit, a challenging one, to ensure proper regard of technical and environmental matters.” 

Savills adds that “ministers and officials will now begin work with local partners” to develop detailed proposals on what these new towns should look like. 

These towns will be delivered through development corporations, which are expected to have compulsory purchase powers. 

Collins says: “The ‘no-scheme principle’ of compensation will apply with potential for a direction not to include ‘hope value’.  

“The proposition is intended to ensure adequate infrastructure and affordable housing is delivered, though this would need to be balanced against bringing forward land quickly and effectively.” 

Collins adds: “It is notable, for example, that some of the new towns are already in the planning process, such as allocation in emerging local plans.  

“A key question will be whether some — or all — of the homes to be delivered through this programme can count towards local housing or employment requirements.” 

However, Labour’s new town plans were broadly welcomed. 

The House of Lords’ built environment committee called the new towns taskforce’s 135-page report “detailed and rigorous”. 

Lords’ built environment committee chair Lord Gascoigne says: “The secretary of state has committed to ‘build, baby, build’.  

“My challenge to him is to follow through on this promise and do so to the highest standards.  

“The country urgently needs a visionary housebuilding programme that captures the public’s imagination and delivers the ambition and quality of the post-war new towns programme. Now is the time to act.” 

Arup UKIMEA cities, planning and design leader Vicky Evans points out that making sure the right infrastructure is in place to support new homes is crucial. 

Evans argues: “New towns must be viewed as engines of economic growth, not just housing developments.  

“This means getting infrastructure right from day one. Too often, people oppose development because of concern about avoidable downsides: congested roads, full GP surgeries and scarce school places.  

“Infrastructure to combat these issues often arrives too late, if at all. We need to map what infrastructure each new town requires, identify what’s already planned and fill the gaps.”