Property Week quotes Claire Fallows on Labour's proposed new towns programme
The Labour party has promised to revive the new towns programme if it wins the general election.
The policy is ambitious. Labour wants to identify and announce the sites for development within the first six months of forming a government, if elected, and begin building the first homes within its first term.
Claire Fallows, Partner, says:
New settlements must be part of the solution to resolve the UK’s housing crisis, so it’s positive to see this incorporated into Labour’s “new towns” plan.
However, that cannot be the whole solution. New settlements take significant time and resource to bring into effect, with a complex planning and delivery process. Even in areas where new towns are created, we are likely to need shorter- and medium-term schemes to fill the gap until these new towns are created.
Funding is crucial. Finding solutions to address the upfront costs of assembling sites and delivering substantial infrastructure packages required to release new developments will be key to any plan that aims to drive housebuilding targets.
Read the full piece in Property Week here.
