New towns made the headlines this weekend after the Government’s taskforce released its first report on ways to support housebuilding in England. David Bainbridge, a director in the Savills Central Planning team, considers how the recommendations could play out in the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Area.   

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published a new report from the New Towns Taskforce, along with Government’s initial response, with a fuller response expected in Spring 2026.

The New Towns Taskforce was established in July last year, charged with recommending a shortlist of locations for the next generation of new towns.

This is part of the Government’s growth agenda and objective to see delivery of 1.5 million new homes in England over the term of this Parliament. Savills research released in June found that it was on course to deliver 840,000 homes over five years, which is 42 per cent of the target.

Whilst Government has warmly welcomed the 12 locations recommended by the taskforce, no decisions have been taken yet, pending detailed assessment work and, as a result, the Government has said that preferred locations could change as a result of the process to come.

Among the locations announced are the following, all of which sit within the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Area:

  • Heyford Park, Oxfordshire
  • Tempsford, Bedfordshire
  • Milton Keynes

The Government is determined to get ‘spades in the ground’ on at least three new towns in this Parliament and is prepared to progress work on a far larger range of locations if it proves possible.

Tempsford is one of three of the 12 locations highlighted as being particularly promising in terms of its potential to unlock economic growth and accelerate housing delivery within this period of time.

Among the 44 recommendations within the Taskforce’s report is the suggestion that to ensure control over land and provide the long-term certainty and stewardship sought, the starting point for the delivery of all new towns is through the development corporation model.

Development corporations will need further consultation and legislation and should aim to have a local connection with democratic accountability. They should also look for the timely delivery of infrastructure as well as new housing. This is especially relevant during the current period of local government reorganisation and devolution in parts of the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Area.

The message to local planning authorities is to keep on plan-making, but pending a final decision on the locations, relevant authorities will need to consider the potential new towns when making decisions on planning applications. This could impact matters in North Oxfordshire at Milton Keynes and in parts of Bedfordshire.

The Government is to consult on revised national policies for plan-making and decision-making later this year. This will include considering how best to support the development of new towns in planning policy.

Development corporations are expected to have compulsory purchase powers, with an aim to acquire land needed for delivery of new towns quickly, efficiently and fairly. The ‘no-scheme principle’ of compensation will apply and direction to remove hope value.

It will be interesting to see whether local planning authorities across Oxford to Cambridge will embrace the recommended locations, whether the housing numbers from the new towns will need to be included in Local Plans and how new development corporations will be set up.

While the report and the Government response represents a positive step forward in the growth agenda across Oxford to Cambridge, more needs to be done both in the policy environment and in relation to funding for infrastructure and development.

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