Labour pledges three new towns before election

Labour has pledged to start building three new towns, revealing 12 shortlisted locations in England for development.

The government confirmed that Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Crews Hill in Enfield, and Leeds South Bank are the early front-runners. A shortlist has been identified by the taskforce led by Sir Michael Lyons.

New Towns Unit

A New Towns Unit will now be established to push the programme forward, unblock barriers, and test new delivery models.

Ministers said the unit would also act as a test bed for innovation, working across departments to drive progress.

The sites cover a mix of greenfield settlements, city extensions, and major regeneration projects.

The locations shortlisted cover from Thamesmead in east London to Marlcombe in East Devon.

'De-risk'

The announcement was met with calls for Homes England to step in and ‘de-risk’ 40%-affordable sites.

Development and masterplanning experts have warned that any large-scale plans would be challenged by threats to viability including a significant rise in construction costs over the past few years.

Settlements

Each settlement will deliver more than 10,000 homes. A minimum of 40% will be affordable housing, of which half should be for social rent.

The taskforce called for accountable delivery bodies capable of offering long-term certainty.

A Strategic Environmental Assessment will be launched before final decisions are confirmed in spring 2026.

The government said it would only back schemes that can demonstrate clear economic purpose. In addition, they must deliver capacity, and feature strong engagement with local communities.

Wei Yang, one of the 10 members of the New Towns Taskforce which recommended sites to the government, said the vision for the schemes is to create:

“resilient, inclusive, affordable, and sustainable communities where people and nature thrive in harmony”.

Yang, who is also a past president of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), said embedding the highest standards of design, sustainability and well-being would be “essential to ensuring these places are built not only for today, but for generations to come”.