In its 2024 election manifesto, Labour promised 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029. Almost a year into the new government’s leadership, this commitment continues to dominate headlines. New homes are desperately needed – and the barriers to creating them are high. 

The lack of safe, sustainable, affordable homes is acute: think tank Centre for Cities puts the Britain’s housing shortage at 4.3 million homes. To meet the government target, an average 300,000 new homes need to be built in England each year. Yet in 2023/24, just 221,070 homes were delivered. 

Homes and towns do not, of course, exist in isolation: they require many other structures, spaces and places to support them. The cost and demands of delivering this necessary supporting infrastructure is, at present, highly underreported. The scale of infrastructure needs for new towns and housing developments is vast, and includes roads, utilities and schools, as well as healthcare and other community facilities. Co‑ordinating, funding and delivering this supporting infrastructure will be central to the success or failure of the government’s plans for new homes. 

For this cost model, we will be considering the supporting infrastructure for housebuilding in the context of the master development infrastructure for a typical lower-density scheme of 4,000 homes, located outside the South-east of England.

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