Back to the Future: The Next Generation of New Towns

The government’s plan to build a new generation of new towns offers a unique opportunity to help address England’s housing emergency, characterised by rising homelessness, unaffordable rents, and an under-supply of social homes. This report, learning from the success of post-war new towns, argues the government must reinvigorate the publicly-led Development Corporation model to place social housebuilding at the centre of its plans and achieve the social and economic objectives we believe should be at the heart of the new programme.