Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the publication of the New Towns Draft Programme on 23 March, in what year they expect construction to begin on the site of the first new town.

The identification of potential new towns has been carried out in line with the objectives set out in the draft New Towns Programme consultation. The proposed programme includes a mixture of standalone sites as well as urban extensions, all with the potential for at least 10,000 homes and for infrastructure to be in place at the outset.

The government intends to confirm final locations and adopt the New Towns Programme later this year, once the SEA has concluded and any other necessary environmental assessments are complete (including Habitats Regulations Assessment), alongside a full response to the Taskforce report. This includes responding to the Taskforce recommendations on skills and delivery.

This government is determined to get spades in the ground on at least three new towns in this Parliament and the government is prepared to progress work on a far larger range of locations if it proves possible. Collectively, schemes in these locations have the potential to provide hundreds of thousands of new homes in the decades ahead.