UK New Towns 2025 - Government Unveils 12 Locations to Transform Housing & Construction
The UK’s housing and construction landscape is set for its most transformative decade in half a century.
In a landmark statement, Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has launched Labour’s flagship Build Baby Build campaign, a national mission to deliver 12 new towns, create 300,000 homes and kickstart a British construction renaissance.
Labour built new towns after the war to meet our promise of homes fit for heroes. Now, with the worst economic inheritance since that war, we will once again build communities to provide homes fit for families of all shapes and sizes. Build Baby Build. — Steve Reed MP
After more than half a century, the UK is preparing for its most ambitious construction programme since the post-war years. The newly published New Towns Taskforce Final Report (September 2025) sets out a nationwide blueprint for growth, calling for a new generation of towns that will provide up to 300,000 homes, create tens of thousands of construction jobs and anchor long-term economic regeneration across England.
Led by Sir Michael Lyons and commissioned by the Government in 2024, the Taskforce concludes that the UK’s housing shortage has become a national productivity challenge. It warns that chronic under-supply is limiting labour mobility, increasing regional inequality and threatening the country’s ability to sustain economic growth.
The report, published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), outlines a detailed plan for 12 strategic new town sites, backed by principles of placemaking, environmental sustainability and government-led delivery through Development Corporations.
The UK faces a critical imbalance between housing demand and delivery. Despite record investment in regeneration, the country builds barely half the homes it needs. The result: unaffordable rents, overcrowding, declining workforce mobility and escalating costs for local authorities.
The Taskforce’s analysis shows that the average home now costs eight times the average salary, while 1.3 million households remain on waiting lists and more than 300,000 people (many of them children) live in temporary accommodation.
But the problem runs deeper than housing: it affects productivity, public health, education and economic opportunity. The report argues that solving the housing crisis is essential to unlocking growth and that only large-scale, coordinated development can deliver at the speed and scale required.
Drawing lessons from the success of Milton Keynes, Crawley, Stevenage and Peterborough, the Taskforce calls for bold government intervention to assemble land, invest in infrastructure and partner with private investors on a national scale.
The 12 Proposed New Towns and Growth Areas
Each proposed location has been chosen to address regional housing pressure, stimulate local economies, and align with existing infrastructure plans and enterprise zones. Collectively, the twelve sites could deliver over 300,000 new homes, tens of billions in construction value and long-term economic transformation.
1. Adlington, Cheshire East
A new standalone settlement positioned between Greater Manchester and Cheshire’s high-growth corridor, supporting manufacturing, logistics and green technology industries.
2. South Gloucestershire (Brabazon & West Innovation Arc)
A cluster of developments surrounding Bristol’s aerospace and research hubs, designed to harness the area’s productivity and create new jobs in advanced engineering.
3. Enfield (Chase Park & Crews Hill)
A major north-London expansion delivering green, well-connected housing and supporting London’s acute need for affordable homes while improving transport links.
4. Heyford Park, Cherwell (Oxfordshire)
The transformation of a former airbase into a modern settlement focused on clean-tech and research, reconnecting Oxford’s innovation economy with new housing and mobility infrastructure.
5. Leeds (South Bank Regeneration)
A high-density urban extension powered by £2.1 billion in local transport funding, creating thousands of new homes close to the city centre, universities and creative industries.
6. Manchester (Victoria North)
A blueprint for inner-city regeneration, expanding the city’s core while delivering affordable housing and sustainable mixed-use spaces for a growing population.
7. Marlcombe, East Devon
A new settlement supporting the Exeter and East Devon Enterprise Zone, enhancing labour supply, regional connectivity and housing choice in the South West.
8. Milton Keynes (Renewed Town)
A reinvention of the UK’s most famous new town, centred on smart mobility, mass rapid transit and carbon-neutral urban growth.
9. Plymouth
Densification around Britain’s Ocean City, complementing the £4.4 billion investment at HMNB Devonport and supporting marine technology clusters.
10. Tempsford, Central Bedfordshire
A strategically positioned new community along the East-West Rail corridor, linking Oxford and Cambridge with a new generation of transit-oriented development.
11. Thamesmead, Greenwich
A riverside expansion unlocking brownfield land in south-east London, dependent on the Docklands Light Railway extension to create a sustainable waterfront community.
12. Worcestershire Parkway, Wychavon
A carbon-neutral town around a new inter-regional station, setting a model for transit-based and low-emission development.
The Taskforce emphasises that this is not a house-building programme, it is nation-building through design and planning. Each site will be governed by ten Placemaking Principles focusing on:
➜ Vision-led planning
➜ High density and mixed-tenure housing
➜ Strong transport connectivity
➜ Health, education, and green infrastructure
➜ Environmental resilience and net-zero design
➜ Community engagement and long-term stewardship
Every new town is expected to contain a full mix of affordable, social and market-rate homes, plus schools, GP facilities, public transport networks and local employment zones.
This holistic model (backed by Development Corporations and supported by Homes England) aims to avoid the fragmented delivery that often slows large schemes. The Taskforce estimates that meeting these targets will require over 200,000 additional skilled workers between 2025 and 2029, from engineers and planners to digital construction specialists.
This could unlock a decade of sustained demand for contractors, suppliers and material producers. The initiative also provides a platform for modern construction methods, digital design (BIM Level 3+), modular manufacturing and green infrastructure.
For investors and developers, the clarity of government-designated new towns provides long-term pipeline certainty, improving financing confidence for both domestic and international funds.
As the report notes, only government can provide the confidence for long-term investment, innovation in building and design, and the urgent acceleration of infrastructure provision.
Each new town will exceed 10,000 homes, far beyond what private developers can deliver alone. The Taskforce therefore recommends that Development Corporations be given power to:
➜ Assemble and purchase land early, capturing land-value uplift.
➜ Coordinate planning and infrastructure investment.
➜ Secure upfront government loans and private capital.
➜ Ensure long-term stewardship and reinvestment in communities.
The Taskforce also proposes new interim planning powers to prevent speculative development that could disrupt coordinated masterplans, protecting future new town sites while full planning frameworks are established.
Recognising public funding pressures, the report encourages innovative financing:
➜ Long-term loan guarantees for development corporations.
➜ Public-private partnerships to share risk and reward.
➜ Land value capture to reinvest profits into social and green infrastructure.
➜ Tax-increment financing for utilities and transport.
The report highlights strong interest from institutional investors (including pension funds and international sovereign wealth partners) willing to support government-backed delivery.
At its core, the New Towns strategy is an economic growth plan disguised as a housing policy.
By creating new communities where people can afford to live near jobs, the government expects to boost productivity, unlock business investment and strengthen regional economies.
The report notes that even a 1% fall in house-price-to-income ratios in overheated regions like London could increase Gross Value Added by £7 billion over ten years. New towns in strategic corridors, like Tempsford, Adlington, and South Gloucestershire, are expected to relieve pressure on major urban centres while expanding labour markets.
Meanwhile, the construction wave will itself become a driver of growth, estimated to inject over £130 billion in new work across infrastructure, housing and manufacturing supply chains by 2035.
Sustainability runs through every recommendation. Each town must demonstrate:
➜ Zero-carbon building design
➜ Biodiversity net gain and flood resilience
➜ Walkable and transit-connected layouts
➜ Integration of renewable energy networks
This approach reflects both environmental responsibility and market demand. Increasingly, major investors and buyers seek communities that deliver long-term resilience, not just quick returns.
The Taskforce calls for strong leadership across Whitehall and closer coordination with local councils, developers and infrastructure agencies. A central theme is confidence: confidence from investors to commit billions; from local communities to support growth; and from the construction industry to innovate at scale.
As Sir Michael Lyons concluded:
For too long there has been a lack of public confidence in this country’s ability to deliver the homes and infrastructure we need. The work of the Taskforce is a call to rebuild that trust and create places where future generations can thrive.
For contractors, consultants and engineers, the new towns programme represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape Britain’s next urban era. From smart infrastructure and modular housing to rail integration and carbon-neutral materials, the scale of work will redefine national construction priorities. Firms that align early with placemaking, ESG compliance and modern methods of construction (MMC) will be best positioned to lead.
The 2025 New Towns Report is more than a government publication, it’s a roadmap for how Britain rebuilds its confidence in planning, engineering and design. If realised, this programme could rival the post-war reconstruction era, creating communities that are connected, inclusive and sustainable.
For London and the wider construction industry, it signals a long-awaited shift from short-term planning to strategic nation-building. And in doing so, it may well define the next 50 years of Britain’s built environment.
