Business Group Proposes New Town Within Greater London to Address Significant Housing Demand

A business organization has stated that the creation of at least one new town within the Greater London area is necessary to satisfy the “huge housing need in the capital.” A report by BusinessLDN indicated that London possesses the capacity to accommodate a new town, citing existing infrastructure like public transport as a key factor. Earlier this year, in its election manifesto, the Labour party pledged to “build a new generation of new towns” as part of its strategy to address the housing crisis. The Labour government announced that the specific locations for these developments would be revealed in 2025, adding that ministers are “already taking steps” to expedite housing construction in London. Labour has specified that each of these new towns will feature a minimum of 10,000 new residences, with an anticipated 40% designated as affordable housing. BusinessLDN asserted that the capital is ideally suited to host one of these new towns, possessing “the political framework, infrastructure links and range of potential sites needed to establish new settlements at speed.” The report, developed collaboratively with prominent consultants, architects, and planners, additionally highlighted that approximately 60% of London’s green belt lies within 2km (just over one mile) of an operational rail or Tube station. This proximity suggests that any prospective new town would likely benefit from a satisfactory level of public transport access, according to the report’s argument. The recent report proposes that London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, could accelerate the establishment of a new town through the creation of a “mayoral development corporation.” Such corporations are specialized entities that can be formed to supervise the revitalization of a specific locality, thereby taking over the planning authority of current local councils. An example of this was established to manage the vicinity of the Olympic Park in Stratford following the conclusion of the 2012 games. A different one is presently supervising the development of land near Old Oak Common, an area where a new high-speed railway station and thousands of new residences are under construction. Tom Copley, who serves as London’s deputy mayor for housing, commented: “The scale of London’s housing need and the challenges facing delivery mean we need to think radically about where the homes of the future will come from, including where we can create additional new towns in and around the capital.” The government stated that its “new generation” of new towns will encompass not only “large-scale new communities built on greenfield land and separated from other nearby settlements” but also “a larger number of urban extensions and urban regeneration schemes.” A representative from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government remarked: “Demand for housing in London is high and we have already taken steps to support mayor Sadiq Khan and London boroughs in accelerating housing delivery, by launching a New Homes Accelerator, providing the city with £150m through the Brownfield Infrastructure and Land Fund and by bringing forward strategic sites for development.”