Don't scrimp on quality standards for new towns, taskforce chair tells housebuilders

Housebuilders working on the government’s new towns programme will need to provide assurances that housing mix and design will not be “diluted under market pressures”, the chair of the taskforce appointed to oversee the programme has said.

Michael Lyons, chair of the New Towns Taskforce, said trust between commissioning bodies and those responsible for construction had too often been damaged by measures taken to maintain viability on schemes.

Providing an update on the work of the taskforce at the UKREiiF conference in Leeds, he said: “Let me be clear, it’s only fair that any government support should come with clear expectations.

“It means a real partnership, open book, shared risks and returns. Where partnerships are appropriate, strong contracts will be needed to ensure that responsibilities are clear and robust delivery structures are established which will endure over time.”

The New Towns Taskforce is currently examining almost 100 proposals for new towns and is expected to recommend 12 locations for around 10,000 homes each to ministers in July, with work starting on the sites within the next four years. 

Lyons, a former chief executive of Birmingham city council and former chairman of the BBC Trust, said what the government will announce will not be broad outlines but “distinct opportunities for an early start working with defined and named partners”.

But he added that new town sites, which could include extensions to existing towns, will not start before detailed masterplans are in place which include construction of key infrastructure.

In making its assessment of the first viable locations, Lyons said the taskforce was favouring areas which are “ready to begin development now”.

Lyons has been travelling around the UK with the taskforce meeting with developers, landowners, local authorities and residents. He admitted he had been “shocked” at how plans for major schemes which were well advanced had been held back by a lack of infrastructure, including water and power supply, sewage and transport.

He said: “The work has to start now. Places that say, ‘this is our ambition of where to get to in 20 years time but we’ve got all these obstacles to overcome’ simply will not make the first cut.”

Potential sites announced this summer could be located within London’s green belt following the city’s mayor Sadiq Khan opening a door to new towns on the outskirts of the capital in a major speech last week.

The government is also expected to set out design principles favouring traditional, Georgian-style homes and winding streets in an effort to create “well-designed, beautiful communities”.