At Labour’s annual party conference in Liverpool on September 27, 2025, Housing Secretary Steve Reed took the stage with a bold pledge: construction on three new towns—Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill in north London—will begin before the next general election. This announcement, rooted in recommendations from the Government’s New Towns Taskforce, signals the launch of what Reed called the “next generation of new towns,” a cornerstone of Labour’s ambitious plan to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
“I will do whatever it takes to get Britain building,” Reed declared, echoing the urgency that has defined his tenure since stepping into the housing secretary role after Angela Rayner’s resignation. He invoked the spirit of the post-war Labour government, which famously built new towns for “homes fit for heroes.” Now, with what Reed described as “the worst economic inheritance since that war,” Labour aims to mobilize the full power of the state to provide homes fit for families of all shapes and sizes, according to BBC and The Independent.
The announcement comes at a time when the UK’s housing market faces significant challenges. Recent figures show that planning approvals for new homes in England have dropped to record lows, with only 80,400 applications received between April and June 2025—a 5% decrease from the previous year. Reed did not mince words, calling this slow growth “unacceptable.” The government’s response is to accelerate housebuilding and remove the obstacles that have kept so many Britons from homeownership. As Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer put it, “For so many families, homeownership is a distant dream. My Labour Government will sweep aside the blockers to get homes built, building the next generation of new towns.”
The three priority sites—Tempsford, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill—are just the beginning. The New Towns Taskforce has recommended 12 locations in total, with each new town slated to have at least 10,000 homes. Collectively, these developments could result in 300,000 new homes across England over the coming decades. The other proposed sites include Adlington in Cheshire East, South Gloucestershire, Heyford Park in Cherwell (Oxfordshire), Victoria North in Manchester, Marlcombe in East Devon, a renewed and expanded Milton Keynes, densified development in Plymouth, a riverside settlement in Thamesmead (Greenwich), and expanded development at Worcestershire Parkway.
Labour’s vision isn’t just about putting up houses. The plan promises that at least 40% of these new homes will be affordable, aiming to expand homeownership to more Britons and address the mounting crisis of housing unaffordability. To deliver on this, a New Towns Unit will be established, tasked with coordinating millions in public and private investment for the necessary infrastructure—think transport links, GP surgeries, schools, green spaces, libraries, and more. The delivery model draws inspiration from the regeneration of Stratford in east London, which saw sweeping redevelopment for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Development corporations will be granted special planning powers, including the ability to compulsorily purchase land and grant planning permissions swiftly, a strategy intended to sidestep the bureaucratic delays that have long hampered large-scale building projects.
But while the vision is grand, it’s not without its critics and skeptics, especially at the local level. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Tempsford, Bedfordshire, one of the first sites slated for development. The village, home to just 600 people living in about 300 houses, has been thrust into the spotlight with little warning. David Sutton, the parish council chairman, voiced his frustration to the PA news agency, stating, “Nobody’s come to talk to us at all.” He continued, “The biggest problem we’ve got at the moment is that even today, as an announcement’s being made, we’ve been given no idea whatsoever of the scale of what we’re being asked to live amongst.”
This lack of communication has fueled uncertainty and, in some quarters, outright opposition. Rumors about the scale of the development have swirled for years, with estimates ranging from 10,000 to as many as 125,000 homes. Sutton himself is not opposed to sustainable development—he acknowledges that the village lacks basic infrastructure, including phone signal, shops, gas, and schools, and has endured severe flooding and sewage problems for two decades. “We need some help before we need to be the ones helping everybody else out with somewhere to live,” Sutton said, highlighting the need for real investment in local services before any large-scale housing is imposed on the community.
Labour insists that the New Towns Unit will address these very concerns, promising to channel funds into the infrastructure that new and existing residents will need. However, Sutton remains skeptical: “Of course (the Government) will say that but will they? If they’re not even talking to us at all, how can we be sure that when they’re promising they’re going to build stuff, how do we know they even know what we need?” His questions echo the worries of many in small communities suddenly earmarked for transformation.
The government has promised that all proposed sites will undergo environmental assessments and extensive consultation before any spade hits the ground. Final locations and funding decisions are expected next spring. The approach—combining standalone settlements, expansions of existing towns, and regeneration within cities—mirrors the flexibility of the original post-war new towns program, but with a modern twist: a promise of unique character for each town, shaped in collaboration with leading architects and designed to reflect local identities.
Despite the challenges, Labour’s leadership is banking on this initiative to not only tackle the housing shortage but also to stimulate economic growth and restore faith in the government’s ability to deliver on big promises. Supporters at the Liverpool conference donned red “build baby build” baseball caps, a cheeky nod to American political slogans, as Reed rallied the crowd with his vision of “rebuilding the country’s towns and communities.”
As the government moves forward, the success of the new towns program will rest on its ability to balance national ambition with local realities. The coming months will be crucial as plans are refined, residents are consulted, and the first steps are taken toward turning Labour’s vision into bricks and mortar. For now, the promise stands: a new era of homebuilding, with the hope that this time, the dream of homeownership will become a reality for many more families across England.
