Central government’s position has been that new town developments must be additional to local housing targets
The government’s expectation that homes delivered as part of its new towns programme be additional to those counted towards local housing targets will ‘clash with reality’ in certain areas, politicians in affected areas have warned.
On Sunday, the housing secretary revealed the findings of the government’s new towns taskforce and committed to beginning construction on the first three schemes by the end of this parliament.
In all, 12 proposed new town sites were put forward by the taskforce, which has been considering options for around a year.
The government has previously made clear that it expects any homes delivered in a particular area as part of a new town scheme to be additional to those required to meet local targets in that same area. However, some local politicians have questioned whether this is achievable, particularly where a proposed new town covers a significant part of a local authority.
Speaking at a fringe event on Sunday, the Labour MP for Milton Keynes, Chris Curtis, said that while “the government’s starting position is these will not count towards the local housing target”, he believed that ministers were “appreciating that that is going to clash with reality”.
“The reality is somewhere between the two,” added Curtis, who is co-chair of the Labour Growth Group.
Milton Keynes was among the 12 areas named by the taskforce at the weekend as being suitable for new town development.
The report set out recommendations for a “renewed town”, with a reinvigorated city centre and a major expansion to the north and east, facilitated by a new mass rapid transit system.
Curtis said that, in his case, the new town project “basically covers the entirety of the local authority area, so it would be mathematically impossible” for it to be on top of the local housing target.
“So there is going to have to be a further conversation about how this interacts with the local housing target,” he said.
>>See also: New towns housebuilders to be stopped from ‘diluting’ design or housing mix, taskforce chair warns
>>See also: We’ve been here before with New Towns – they are difficult
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan questioned the additionality requirement when it was first announced last year, and, in a panel session on Monday, his deputy mayor for housing, Tom Copley, also addressed the issue.
“I don’t think it’s totally set in stone,” said Copley.” I understand why they announced it that at the time, I think that perhaps they were thinking of perhaps parts of the country, they’re a little more recalcitrant about home building than London and not wanting people just to draw a line around an area and go ‘we’ll put all our new housing there, and we won’t have to build any over here’.
Two of the government’s proposed new towns would be within London. One is Thamesmead in the south-east, while the other, Crews Hill in Enfield, is among the government’s three priority schemes.
Copley said these affected boroughs were “chomping at the bit to do more” and that, in the case of Thamesmead, it was “ very much an area that is already delivering”.
“It would seem odd to draw a line around it and say, ‘well, you can’t count those towards the target’. So, it’s an ongoing discussion, and I don’t think anything’s set in stone,” he concluded.
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