New towns should include community land trusts, sector leaders urge

CLTs are non-profit organisations that own, develop and maintain land, typically providing affordable homes as well as community gardens, energy schemes and conservation projects.

According to recent polling by YouGov and the Royal Town Planning Institute, there is public appetite for community-led development, with 82% of respondents saying they want new towns to be built by a mix of providers, including community groups.

In September, the government said it would establish a ‘New Towns Unit’ to fast-track the development of three new towns this parliament, after its taskforce recommended 12 suitable locations.

Each town will have at least 10,000 homes, and collectively the towns could deliver up to 300,000 homes across the country over the coming decades.

The government has also welcomed the taskforce’s recommended ambition for a minimum of 40% affordable housing in new towns, half of which will be for social rent.

Bjorn Howard, chief executive at Aster Group, said: “If new towns are to succeed, they need more than bricks and mortar, they need buy-in. CLTs give communities control over housing and infrastructure decisions, building homes that are locally needed, permanently affordable and backed by those who live nearby.

“Without this approach, new towns risk being derailed by public objections and stalled planning processes. 

“Instead, we need to give communities real ownership over outcomes and involve them in the development process. That’s how you deliver places people can afford and where they want to live.”

Tom Chance, chief executive of the CLT Network, said these community-led organisations can “move faster and build smarter because the community is already on board”. 

He continued: “There are already community-led projects building the amenities that make a thriving community, like parks and leisure centres. Apply to them the scale and government backing of the new towns programme, and they could be transformational for placemaking in Britain.

“We want the government to see our policy proposal – delivering 100 CLT homes per new town – as a starting point. What’s exciting is the potential to go much further.

“Our modelling suggests that as much as 10% of the new towns housing programme could be delivered through CLTs.”

The House of Lords Built Environment Committee recently launched the second module of its inquiry into new towns, which will look at how to ensure they become thriving, successful communities where families want to live and set down roots.

Its first module concluded that new towns will fail without strong government leadership, and that funding is one of the “most critical issues” facing the programme.