London needs a new town due to 'huge housing need'

At least one new town inside the Greater London boundary is needed to meet the "huge housing need in the capital" a business group has said.

BusinessLDN's report said the capital could host a new town because factors such as public transport were already in place.

As part of its strategy to tackle the housing crisis, Labour promised in its election manifesto earlier this year to "build a new generation of new towns".

The Labour government said these locations would be announced in 2025 and ministers were "already taking steps" to accelerate housing delivery in London.

Labour has said each new town will have a minimum of 10,000 new homes, with 40% expected to be classed as affordable.

BusinessLDN said the capital was well-placed to host one of the new towns as it had "the political framework, infrastructure links and range of potential sites needed to establish new settlements at speed".

The report, authored in partnership with leading consultants, architects and planners, also has pointed that around 60% of London's green belt is within 2km (just over one mile) of an existing rail or Tube station.

That would mean that any potential new town would likely already have a decent level of public transport connectivity, the report argued.

The new report suggests that London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, could speed up the process of creating a new town by establishing a new "mayoral development corporation".

These are special zones which can be created to oversee the regeneration of a particular area, usurping the planning powers of existing local authorities.

One was created to manage the area around the Olympic Park in Stratford after the 2012 games had finished.

Another is currently overseeing the development of land around Old Oak Common, where a new high speed railway station and thousands of new homes are being built.

Tom Copley, London's deputy mayor for housing, said: "The scale of London's housing need and the challenges facing delivery mean we need to think radically about where the homes of the future will come from, including where we can create additional new towns in and around the capital."

According to the government, its "new generation" of new towns will not only comprise "large-scale new communities built on greenfield land and separated from other nearby settlements", but will also include "a larger number of urban extensions and urban regeneration schemes".

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: "Demand for housing in London is high and we have already taken steps to support mayor Sadiq Khan and London boroughs in accelerating housing delivery, by launching a New Homes Accelerator, providing the city with £150m through the Brownfield Infrastructure and Land Fund and by bringing forward strategic sites for development."

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