Councils will receive new powers to help them deliver the homes
their communities need under proposed regulations published today
by Housing Minister MP.
Under new rules, councils will 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 themselves 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.
Subject to the normal planning requirements, including safeguards
that protect the Green Belt, the corporations 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.
This measure is part of the Government’s wide-ranging programme
of planning reform and targeted funding to deliver 300,000 homes
a year by the mid-2020s.
Housing Minister 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.”
Previously, all New Town Development Corporations created by the
Secretary of State remained accountable to the Ministry of
Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Housing Minister MP will today 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.
ENDS
Background
- · The Ministry
of Housing, Communities and Local Government has also released a
summary document to its recent consultation on the new town
regulations. It can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-new-towns-act-1981-local-authority-oversight-regulations
- · A
limited number of functions will remain with the Secretary of
State. For example, it will remain the Secretary of State
who confirms compulsory purchase orders.
- · The new
development corporations set up after the regulations come into
force will operate in a similar way to the new town development
corporations that delivered the post-war new 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.
- · The
Government is preparing to launch its new National Planning
Policy Framework later this summer, which will streamline the
system and allow the delivery of the homes this country
needs.
- · The powers
to create New Town Development Corporations accountable to the
Secretary of State remain on the statute book.
