New Town Development Corporations to be launched by councils

Councils will now be able to seek government’s approval to launch a New Town Development Corporation, which will be responsible for delivering new towns and garden communities in their area. 

The new bodies will be responsible for master planning and project development, bringing on board private investment, partnering with developers and overseeing the completion of a new town or garden village with each expected to deliver tens of thousands of new homes.

Held accountable by councils, the development corporations will be expected to involve communities in their projects, which includes allowing residents to have their say on how high-quality homes are delivered.

The bodies will be subject to the normal planning requirements, including safeguards that protect the Green Belt, and they will be led by teams made up of council representatives, community stakeholders, experts in delivering major projects and other partner organisations involved in the delivery of sites.

The new development corporations will operate in a similar way to the corporations that delivered the post-war towns such as Milton Keynes. As with traditional new town development corporations, these locally-led bodies will be able to draft proposals for the new town which the oversight authority can approve.

Housing Minister Dominic Raab MP said: ‘We need to build the homes our communities need and I’m committed to giving councils the tools they need to deliver.

‘That’s why we’re giving councils the option of applying to establish development corporations. These will be locally accountable and must listen to the views of the community to ensure that the right homes are built in the right places.’

Cllr Martin Tett, LGA housing spokesman said:  ‘We will continue to engage with the Government to ensure that we can make the most of these new opportunities to deliver homes through local development corporations, and will continue to support the sector in efforts to deliver new homes.

‘However, there is no quicker way to deliver these homes than by triggering the renaissance in council housebuilding we need by lifting the housing borrowing cap and enabling councils to borrow to build once more.’

Mr Raab will introduce the regulations to Parliament, which are subject to further debate by MPs and will come into force later this year once approved by Parliament.