Labour to select new town sites by end of first year

Angela Rayner has announced that sites for new "towns of the future" will be unveiled by the end of a Labour government's first year in power. Labour's deputy leader and shadow housing secretary said creating new towns was a key part of her party's plan to build 1.5 million homes over five years. Ms Rayner hopes the private sector will be persuaded to fund the new towns, which will have to include 40% affordable housing. But Housing Minister Lee Rowley questioned Labour's funding model and said more "top down" targets would lead to a loss of local support. With planning permission for new homes falling to a record low last year, Ms Rayner has also pledged to reintroduce housing targets in England and reform the planning system. The National Housing Federation says local objections "remain a significant barrier" to new housing developments.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has previously told the BBC he is a Yimby - "yes in my back yard" - because he wants to "bulldoze" restrictive planning rules and overrule local campaigns, often led by MPs, to build more homes. But Ms Rayner said Labour's housebuilding schemes would be developed "in lockstep with local people". She told BBC News: "I think we can do it in a more popular way... I actually think they will be more popular, with more local say, and that local people will be able to get the houses they need. "A lot of the time, we're seeing these developments that are not given to local people, they're not providing the housing that people need and they're not on the right sites. "We're seeing development in places where people don't want them." Ms Rayner said a New Town Commission would be set up within six months, if Labour wins the general election, and a list of sites decided on within a year. She promised "a new dawn" for "responsible developers" willing to work in partnership with the government and put green spaces, schools, GPs, and transport links at the heart of new communities. "But those who have wriggled out of their responsibilities for too long will be robustly held to account," she said in a speech. “Labour’s towns of the future will be built on the foundations of our past. "The post-war period taught us that when the government plays a strategic role in housebuilding, we can turbo-charge growth to the benefit of working people across Britain." The post-war Labour government launched the "new town" concept to deal with overcrowding in London and other big cities, with 32 being built, including Milton Keynes, Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City. But the policy stalled in the 1970s, amid criticism of poor quality housing and transport links. Labour's Margaret Greenwood, who has spoken out against plans for 240 new homes to be built on greenbelt near Greasby in her Wirral West constituency, is among MPs of all parties concerned about the threat to greenbelt land. She said: "I'm pleased that Labour is bringing forward these plans to address the housing crisis and that we're going to have well-designed homes and affordable homes but it's important that they're built away from the greenbelt. "The greenbelt is there to provide a respite from urban sprawl and it's a very important function. "There's room for over a million homes on brownfield sites so we should be building on those and having that urban regeneration that we desperately need to see."