New Towns: Commit and Build – key takeaways from House of Lords report
On 15 October 2026, The House of Lords Built Environment Committee published its third and final report, 'New Towns: Commit and Built’, which warns the Government's new towns programme will fail without clearer leadership.
The report follows a Government announcement in March 2026, identifying seven locations for the new towns to be built. The report warns that unless at least one new town is built by 2029 the Government will have failed the next generation. The report also identifies the barriers to delivery and proposes some solutions.
Barriers to delivery
The committee identified five primary barriers threatening to stall or derail the new towns rollout:
- Material shortages: Declining domestic capacity to manufacture building materials exposes the UK to global market volatility.
- Utility deficits: Local providers lack the extra infrastructure capacity required to connect new settlements.
- Workforce gaps: A severe shortage of skilled labour in the construction sector challenges ambitious build targets.
- Technology integration: Modern methods like modular construction and grey water harvesting are under-utilised.
- Lack of clarity: The sector demands decisive, long-term commitment and clear structures from the Government to build confidence.
The proposed solutions
To deliver its programme of new towns, the committee recommended the Government solve these problems with the following steps:
- Instil confidence to drive building materials supply: If the sector is confident in the Government’s commitment to the new towns programme, then the programme can act as a stimulus to the sector, reassuring suppliers that demand for building materials will remain high for decades to come.
- Resilient infrastructure: the introduction by the Government of a national resilience framework plan to safeguard the future of energy and water for megaprojects, which should include new towns. High standards for water and energy consumption and supply must be embedded throughout the new towns programme.
- Ensure adequate supply of skilled workers: as part of its forthcoming jobs plan, the Government undertake a national review of non-degree construction training and apprenticeships to assess their effectiveness and relevance to modern construction and to employer needs. The new town delivery bodies must establish strong and effective working arrangements with employers and training providers to establish accredited training and apprenticeships tailored to the particular requirements of new town development.
- Simpler employment of innovative technologies: Economies of scale and Government support increase the likelihood of regulatory approval of novel building materials and techniques demonstrated on a large scale, which also improve their appeal to insurers. The Government has a role to play in removing any barriers to their use.
- Commit and build: Decisive action from the Government to inspire confidence in the key interested parties that the programme will be delivered. Developers, the construction sector, training providers, utility firms and others are both willing and able to deliver but require the confidence to invest and expand production.
Key takeaways
The report’s key message is that the Government must take overall control of the new towns programme and treat it as a major national project, through its own actions and by setting up accountable mechanisms for that control.
“To undertake this programme in a half-hearted and desultory manner would lead to failure, because none of the other interested parties needed to make new towns a success will be able to make the long-term commitment to contribute. This is therefore a policy that the Government must pursue relentlessly—in partnership with housebuilders, colleges, industry and wider society—or one that they should give up on.”
Matthew Pennycook, the Minister of State for Housing and Planning has made it clear that he favours setting up development corporations to deliver new towns. The report states that all development corporations, or equivalent delivery bodies, should be established within three months of the final site selections being made.
Development corporations are powerful delivery vehicles which have powers to plan, finance, and build large-scale new settlements and urban extensions. They possess unique powers of compulsory purchase, planning control, and land assembly to drive major housing projects. Examples include the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) set up after the 2012 Olympic Games and the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation in Kent. However, their success will depend on securing local support and working in partnership with the private sector to attract developers and investors to finance and deliver these new communities.
The next steps the Government takes are critical. Funding plans should be prioritised to foster confidence within the sector. The House of Lords Built Environment Committee has made it clear, the clock is ticking:
“We will soon by approaching two and a half years since this Government came to power. There has been a consultation and the launch of a taskforce, but construction — or even the final selection of new towns locations — are yet to take place. Therefore, alongside commitments to the urban extensions and urban regeneration projects, construction work must begin on at least one standalone new town within the lifetime of this parliament.”
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