Building of three new towns will start before election, Labour pledges

Labour has confirmed that three new towns will be built before the next general election. A taskforce has recommended 12 locations in England for growth, with three of them, Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill in north London, among the most promising sites. In a speech on the first day of Labour's annual party conference, Housing Secretary Steve Reed is supposed to announce the plans. Labour has put housebuilding at the forefront of the Labour Party's plan to boost the economy, with promises to build 1. 5 million new homes by 2029.

However, the sector has warned that reaching its target would be difficult, with housebuilders facing pressures from increasing costs and taxes. Meanwhile, the number of planning approvals for new homes in England dropped to a new low during Labour's first year in office, according to recent reports.

Tempsford is home to 600 people and currently has around 300 houses. Residents had been kept in the dark about the prospective plans, including how many new homes could be built, according to its parish council chairman David Sutton.

The biggest issue we've encountered at the moment is that we're now having no idea whatsoever of the size of what we'd be living amongst,

the PA news dePArtment reported.

No one's come to talk to us at all. Last year, Labour's election manifesto included the promise of a

new generation of new towns. The 12 planned projects range from large-scale standalone communities to expansions of existing towns and urban revitalization schemes. Sites in Cheshire, South Gloucestershire, East Devon, Plymouth, and Manchester have been approved for development. With the government announcing the final locations and support next year, the selected locations will be subjected to environmental assessments and consultation. Each new town will have at least 10,000 homes, according to Labour, and they may result in the construction of 300,000 homes across England over the next decade. The government has accepted a New Towns Taskforce's recommendation that at least 40% of these new homes be classified as affordable housing. For the new developments, a New Towns Unit will be tasked with raising millions of pounds of public and private sector funding to invest in GP surgeries, schools, green spaces, libraries, and transportation. The taskforce has suggested that new towns be provided by development companies, which may have special planning authority to compulsory purchase property, invest in local services, and grant planning permission. This is a preview of the redevelopment of Stratford in east London during and after the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

For so many families, homeownership is a distant dream,

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said.

My Labour government will sweep the blockers aside to build houses and begin to build the next generation of new towns.

The housing secretary will build baby buildin his address, whiletaking lessons from the post-war Labour government housing boom. "This group started new towns after the war to fulfill our pledge of homes fit for veterans. Now, with the worst economic inheritance since the war, Reed is expected to say that we will once more develop cutting-edge communities to ensure homes for families of all shapes and sizes. Clement Attlee's government planned the first wave of new towns, including developments in Stevenage and Crawley, to relocate people from poverty or bombed-out housing, with development firms tasked with building them.

The announcement comes as Labour members gather in Liverpool for the party's annual conference. Reed's first big speech since taking over from Angela Rayner as housing secretary after she resigned for failure to pay enough tax on a flat purchase. Sir Keir, who is being questioned about his leadership and the direction of his party, has been a bruising few weeks. With Labour trailing Reform in the polls, Prime Minister David Cameron has stepped up his assaults on Nigel Farage's party. On his arrival in Liverpool on Saturday, he warned that reform would tear this country apart and that the conference would be a chance to lay out his alternative to the party's "toxic divide and decline.

Where could the next new towns be?

The New Towns Taskforce has suggested that 12 locations be considered by the government: Subscribe to our Politics Essential newsletter to stay up with Westminster's internal workings and beyond.