Housing minister to give evidence to Lords inquiry on new towns

At 10am on Thursday 17 July 2025, the House of Lords Built Environment Committee will hear evidence from the Minister for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP.

This is the final public evidence session of the committee's inquiry on new towns and expanded settlements. It will be held in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lords and streamed live on Parliament TV.

The committee will be aiming to find out:

• Why these new towns are being proposed and how they will differ from any other large-scale residential development
• The level of financial support the Government will provide for the new towns, and the funding mechanisms it will use to do so
• What the Government will do to encourage long-term patient investment into new towns
• How the Government arrived at its targets of 10,000 homes per new town, with 40% affordable housing, and how likely it is that these will be watered down?
• How the Government will overcome public and political opposition to locations selected by the New Towns Taskforce
• What the Government's preferred delivery model will be
• How the Government will oversee the new towns programme, and at what level the programme will be led.