Sector welcomes £10m new towns fund but calls for greater support

The property industry has welcomed the government’s £10m fund for local authorities to come up with proposals for post-Brexit new towns, but called for greater long-term support. The Town and Country Planning Association said the so-called development corporation competition “highlights the lack of wider support”. TCPA director of communities and project delivery, Katy Lock, said: “A competition process highlights the lack of wider policy support, setting out a strategic approach to understanding need and location as part of a wider approach to rebalancing the economy.” It comes after housing secretary Robert Jenrick called on local authorities to pitch the “Canary Wharfs of the North and the Milton Keynes of the Midlands”. Jenrick will award the finance to 10 councils, selected with the help of Canary Wharf Group executive chairman George Iacobescu. The local authorities will use the funds to work up proposals for post-Brexit new towns, delivering housing, infrastructure and communities. The TCPA has long called for government support for the creation of new towns, but it said the government’s approach showed a need for greater understanding. Lock added: “The TCPA is a strong advocate of using modernised new town development corporations to drive the delivery of highly sustainable new communities, but this requires government to maintain a leading role in the process.” Her calls for long-term guidance and support from the government were echoed by others in the wider property industry. Muse Development’s director of development, Duncan Cumberland, said: “If this £10m is a way of challenging local authorities to put forward fleshed-out proposals, then that’s good news. “However, it needs to be aligned with other sources of funding available to maximise both the positive impact to communities and the opportunities available.” Cumberland leads the English Cities Fund regenerations at Canning Town, E16, Plymouth and Bristol, bringing forward thousands of homes on challenging regeneration sites. He added: “Our experience here tells us that funding streams, such as the Housing Infrastructure Fund, are great ways to mitigate infrastructure challenges that are present when local authorities look to unlock land for development.” Jackie Sadek, chief operating officer at UK Regeneration, which is developing the 1,500-home Biggleswade new town in Bedfordshire, said: “We welcome any competition process for local authorities to put their hands up for growth.” She said the initiative was progress from the failed “Whitehall-imposed” eco-towns of the 2000s. She said the “bottom-up” strategy, met with local authority initiative, was better but added: “I’m not sure how far £1m will go. It is not a huge amount in terms of the ambition. To plan a new town would cost 10 times that, just to get to first base.” Sadek said this support should be followed by a government pledge that statutory agencies, such as Highways England, the Environment Agency and Network Rail, greet proposals favourably at the planning stages and engage with applicants. “I would look for them to follow through with a joined-up approach for all the people necessary for this process,” she said. “If you are planning a new settlement of thousands of homes then you have to deal with government agencies and they should respond in line with government policy.” To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette