RTPI response to the House of Lords Built Environment Committee’s Call for Evidence

About the RTPI

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) champions the power of planning in creating sustainable, prosperous places and vibrant communities. We have over 27,000 members in the private, public, academic and voluntary sectors. Using our expertise and research we bring evidence and thought leadership to shape planning policies and thinking, putting the profession at the heart of society's big debates. We set the standards of planning education and professional behaviour that give our members, wherever they work in the world, a unique ability to meet complex economic, social environmental and cultural challenges.

 

Note: While the New Towns Act covers Wales and England, the following response reflects the position of RTPI England only. Planning in Wales is devolved and policy on new towns in Wales can be found in Future Wales – The National Plan 2040.

 

1. What do you anticipate will be most significant impact(s) of the Government’s proposed new towns?

The Government’s proposed New Towns programme is an opportunity to embed the highest quality placemaking and design principles into a group of new settlements and/or urban extensions. Along with delivering much-needed housing at volume, this forthcoming wave of new towns represents an opportunity to demonstrate how planning can help create thriving communities that put the health and wellbeing of their residents at the core. By following a 20-minute neighbourhood approach that focuses on active travel, local services and connectivity, the new towns can result in healthy living communities.

Most current and forthcoming development in England is within existing urban areas, fitting within existing plans. The new towns will be unique in that they will be able to benefit from a master planning process which, if done correctly, can embed the values of wellbeing, accessibility, connectivity, sustainability and longevity within the urban fabric.

     a. Over what timescale do you expect this(/these) to be realised?

Realising the full vision of the New Towns programme, where the settlements are built, residents have all moved in, and services are in situ, will likely take upwards of ten years. Furthermore, it may be another 25 years before the successful long-term growth and stewardship of these new towns can be judged, because a key success indicator of new settlements is how they adapt to future change – be that social, economic, climate, or other change. We cannot foresee all the ways in which a changing world will impact the places we live. To this end, new towns should embed flexibility within their design from the outset.

The RTPI has commissioned research that looks at how policymakers can ‘futureproof’ the next generation of British new towns against uncertainty, to ensure that new towns can thrive for generations.

Given this long-term view, there is an opportunity to embed the placemaking and design principles mentioned above into these new towns from the inception of the projects. Work done on realising the full potential of these new places can and should begin imminently.

 

2. How do the proposed new towns and expanded settlements differ from previous initiatives over the last 80 years?

This proposed New Towns programme will take place in a very different context to those from the 20th century.

Local authority planning departments (LPAs) have seen significant cuts over the past fifteen years, with fewer planning professionals. Architects now are predominantly employed in the private sector, although local authorities may have some in-house urban design expertise. Previous in-house master-planning expertise has also been lost.

The existing and forthcoming planning policy context is radically different due to the changes implemented by the new Government. The new standard method for housing targets, statutory BNG, as well as new plans for nature recovery, sit alongside the introduction of strategic planning authorities and spatial development strategies. Simply put, planning is more complex now and must account for a greater range of policy, guidance, and legislation.

Equally, amid greater concern about the climate crisis and loss of biodiversity, alongside unaffordable housing, our societal needs are different and more complex. The New Towns programme must take these new challenges seriously.

The Government is also due to consult on the introduction of National Development Management Policies (NDMPs), which will alter the delivery of local plans. It is unclear, at this stage, how the New Towns programme will interact with NDMPs. It is also unclear how the housing supply delivered through new towns will be accounted for when planning authorities utilise the new standard method to assess their housing needs.

There have been indications that supply from new towns would not count towards the provision of housing in a local authority area but would sit on top of their requirements as set out by the standard method. If this is the case, questions remain around what incentives LPAs would have to support new towns in their area, and the knock-on effects for LPAs which might be relying on new settlements to meet their housing numbers.

Broadly speaking, the state now plays a much less significant role in housing delivery and does not have the capacity to deliver housing at scale. The delivery of these new towns will have to rely much more on partnerships with the private sector. The Government will have a key role in engaging different landowners and getting collaborative buy-in for the infrastructure needed to unlock sites, as well as assembling land where necessary and sharing the risk across landowners.

The Government has made a point of amending development corporation legislation, so this new wave of new towns includes not just new settlements but urban extensions. These edge-of-settlement developments would be able to utilise existing infrastructure and benefit from existing employment hubs, which would potentially reduce costs and make it easier to achieve sustainable communities.

The RTPI’s Location of Development work, now in its fourth iteration, found that planning has not gone far enough in directing development towards sustainable locations. Careful thought must be given to how best new towns can enhance connectivity and accessibility, given its knock-on impacts on sustainability (through reduced car use) and wellbeing (through reduced isolation).

 

3. What, if any, are the barriers to the development of good quality new towns?

There are many barriers that pose a threat to the development of high-quality new towns, both short-term and long-term. These include:

• Poor choice of locations – New Towns should, where possible, be located in areas with existing transport infrastructure and access to regional service and employment hubs
• Financing arrangements
• Infrastructure provision – adopting an infrastructure -first approach that results from a plan-led approach will increase housing delivery, investment, and buy-in from communities
• Buy-in from local and national political leaders to deliver a shared vision
• Long-term stewardship arrangements – the long-term success of New Towns depends on which entities own community assets, including green spaces
• Local authorities must be empowered to take on the role of long-term stewards
• Construction industry capacity and skills
• Planning sector capacity and skills
• Continual reform to planning system and local government reform, which may contribute to greater uncertainty and delay

The MHCLG Local Authority Planning Capacity and Skills Survey, carried out in 2023 and reported earlier this year, found that master planning was one of the most reported skills gaps among planning departments, second only to ecology and biodiversity.

The work of NTDCs will require specialist skills that may be lacking in the planning sector. The Government should carry out a skills and needs assessment aimed at identifying areas where expertise is required.

 

4. What current policy channels exist to deliver new towns, and are they sufficient? If insufficient, what policy changes would facilitate their development?

The proposed introduction of New Town Development Corporations (NTDCs) and locally-led NTDCs within the Planning and Infrastructure Bill provides new legislative vehicles for the delivery and financing of new towns. Having one body handling both delivery and financing is the most preferable model of governance, and development corporations must be linked to public bodies that span economic labour market areas at a sub-regional scale. 

The Government should also consider whether an umbrella organisation is required to manage all the individual NTDCs. This body could work to share resources and skills across development corporations, reducing competition between them.

Development corporations are time-limited bodies, and it is crucial that there is a proper succession plan that manages the transfer of responsibility. If local authorities are intended to take on this responsibility, they must be given the resources and powers to remain effective place stewards.

How new towns are aligned and interact with other sectoral spatial plans – strategic growth, investment, energy, land use – will be key, and the RTPI has called for a National Spatial Framework to align these various and competing interests. Clarity is also required for how new towns will interact with the local plan process amid revisions to the NPPF and whether they have any interaction with local growth strategies and the ability of local authorities to identify sites for development.

 

5. What do you think future modules in our inquiry should examine when considering what makes a successful new town?

Future modules within this inquiry could examine the following areas:

• Active travel, transport and 20-minute neighbourhoods
• Embedding nature-based solutions within development
• Infrastructure provision and an infrastructure-first approach
• Employment strategies and flexible commercial/industrial spaces
• Long-term asset stewardship, including management of green spaces and public realm
• Urban design
• Inclusive design and co-design
• Housing design and quality, and embedding principles of health and wellbeing
• Housing tenure and financing
• Climate resilience (including flooding)
• Flexibility, particularly around retail and commercial space

 

6. What should be the respective roles and responsibilities of local and regional government in the delivery of new towns?

These new towns must prioritise affordable homes for sale and rent, and the RTPI is in favour of a greater public subsidy for direct delivery of affordable homes by councils and registered providers. Greater public sector-led housing development, which can act in a counter-cyclical manner to private sector market conditions, can operate alongside a public-private approach to housebuilding.

The development corporation, acting as master-planner and -developer, allows them to assemble parcels of land, parcel it up into sites, and help SME housebuilders financially access sites that otherwise might be unavailable. This would help to improve affordability and diversify tenures delivered (speeding up build-out rates, as per the Letwin Review), increase quality, unlock difficult brownfield sites, and better support SMEs.

Additionally, steps should be taken to ensure that local authority areas selected for new towns are sufficiently resourced.

 

7. How can central Government support the planning and delivery of new towns?

As mentioned in our response to Q4, central Government should ensure that development corporations have the resources, skills and expertise to properly plan and deliver new towns.

Furthermore, there must be unified political buy-in at local, regional, and national level, with a shared clarity of purpose. Ensuring the success of new towns will require leadership and vision at all these scales.

Also mentioned in our response to question 4 is the need for sectoral alignment between different national and strategic plans. The Government should carefully consider the kind of framework (such as a National Spatial Framework) that could play this coordinating role.

 

8. What is the most effective economic model for building and managing a new town?

Development corporations, by acting as land assembler and master planner, can utilise land value uplift to deliver infrastructure upfront and help finance the delivery of these new towns.

By purchasing undeveloped land and selling it to housebuilders once it has been consented, NTDCs will be able to use land value capture to finance the necessary infrastructure that needs to be delivered upfront to encourage investment and convince communities of the potential for these new settlements.

Furthermore, the Government will need to consider how much autonomy NTDCs are granted in their decision-making and spending powers. Requiring central Government sign-off at every stage will impede decision-making, put off investors, and could limit the ambition of the New Towns programme by stifling creative policymaking.

If they are given the tools to succeed and a clear remit, the bodies delivering new towns should be empowered to be ambitious, creative and commercially minded.

 

9. What role should community engagement play in developing and planning new towns?

The Government must think carefully about how to properly engage residents for communities that do not yet exist. ‘Pioneer’ families who are among the first to move into new towns are an important part of achieving a critical mass of public support.

Community engagement for new towns should focus on understanding what potential future residents require from a new town to ‘buy in’ to its vision.

Engagement could go as far as to involve residents in the ongoing development of the new towns through co-design. The ambitious potential of new towns can be both top-down (through policy and leadership) and bottom-up engagement with people who will live in these places.

 

10. What elements should be prioritised in the strategic master planning of new towns?

The strategic master planning of new towns should be holistic in its approach, but should focus on nature, infrastructure, urban design, housing mix and quality, as well as incorporating spatial strategies for energy, employment, transport, and nature recovery.

New towns should be forward thinking and embrace nature-based solutions. Provision of, and access to, high-quality green spaces and nature is vital to creating healthy, sustainable and attractive places that promote wellbeing.

Furthermore, integrating nature into the urban fabric, through street parks, sustainable drainage, street trees and other tools is important, not only for taking a proactive approach to climate change, but also for its proven benefits for health, wellbeing, and community cohesion.

Traffic calming measures and the introduction of low traffic neighbourhoods, alongside 20-minute neighbourhood principles, can also help to increase connectivity and community, reduce air pollution, and promote healthy places.

A holistic approach to master planning requires these concepts of health, sustainability, accessibility, and design to be embedded throughout the process and not just considered as an afterthought. If this is done properly, then these places will be communities where people want to live for a long time.

 

    a. In what ways can master plans support the long-term economic viability of new towns?

Over recent years, we have seen economic and social shocks like the Covid-19 pandemic that drastically altered our working and spending patterns. Master plans can incorporate flexibility in the creation of mixed-use or commercial areas, so that the new towns can adapt to new ways of living, travelling, shopping, socialising.

Embedding economic resilience in new towns will involve attracting a variety of employers and sectors across employment sites. To instil long-term viability, there should be an emphasis on high-tech, green industries with a focus on innovation in areas like renewable energy, sustainable materials, the circular economy, and green transport. 

Furthermore, education will play a significant role in long term viability. Master plans of new towns should consider the key role of higher educational centres providing training and skills for local workforces.

Taking a broader approach, the economic vision for new towns should be tied into wider economic aims at a strategic, or national, level. There should be a plan for how new towns will contribute towards forthcoming place-based economic strategies.

 

11. On what basis, and using what metrics, should the location and size of new towns be decided?

The location of new towns should be determined by a range of factors. These include the consideration of geographical constraints including flood risk areas, SSSIs and other landscape designations; the capacity of any site to utilise brownfield land as well as existing (and particularly underutilised) infrastructure; an analysis of demand for housing, services, and employment; and those areas which would provide the greatest land value uplift (through land value capture).

Local authorities utilise an existing local site assessment process. This could be adapted into a strategic site assessment process to suit the needs of new towns but should form the basis upon which locations are chosen.

It is important that the Government sets out a clear rationale for the criteria they choose to locate new towns, with explanations of the metrics they have chosen, the weight given to those metrics, and the reasoning behind the weightings. These metrics should include a mixture of qualitative and quantitative assessments.

 

    a. In which types of locations and in which parts of the country would you prioritise the development of new towns and why?

As above, development should be prioritised in areas with existing brownfield sites and under-utilised connectivity and infrastructure.

 

12. To what extent can the proposed new towns act as a model for general housing development across the UK?

The large-scale master plan approach of new towns is different to the incremental approach to much of the development across the UK and can take a more holistic and ambitious approach to development that focuses on delivering infrastructure up front, prioritising active travel, connectivity, and public transport through the 20-minute neighbourhood approach, and embedding nature at the heart of decision making.

New towns should be woven into the existing system of plans and governance, rather than simply foisted on top of them. They represent an opportunity to be creative and ambitious, acting as a benchmark for the highest quality of planning, but they will not succeed if they exist in a silo.

 

13. What long-term support will new towns need to ensure that their delivery is efficient and successful?

Long-term support for new towns should include a long-term stewardship plan – one failing of the original New Towns programme was the poor consideration of who was going to own and be responsible for assets and management once development corporations were wound down. Assets were often sold off, and local authorities were not always empowered to act as good stewards. This led to difficulty in regeneration of areas with fragmented ownership landscapes, and the decline of public and shared spaces not under the control of the local authority.

As per our responses to questions 4 and 7, the introduction of a National Spatial Framework would enable coordination between sectoral plans. A coordinated approach to land use is the best way to ensure that we can create sustainable communities that are successful in the long term.

 

14. Does the construction sector have sufficient capacity and skills to deliver new towns?

Within the professional services side of the broader construction and development industry, planning departments have been facing a continued resourcing crisis.

Public spending on planning in England contracted by 16% between 2009 and 2022, and the Government needs a long-term strategy for building capacity in the planning system after years of underfunding.

While we welcome the government’s recognition that additional resource is needed in planning departments, the proposed 300 funded planners figure falls short of an estimated existing need of 2,200, not accounting for the future demand of planners to deliver on the Government’s growth agenda.

 

    a. If not, what should be done to ensure that it is, and over what timeframe can capacity be made?

To address this, the RTPI has proposed a 3-point resourcing plan, which would involve carrying out a whole-planning system audit, a skills development programme to address skills shortages in specific areas, and allocating funding for Level 7 Chartered Town Planner apprenticeships, to secure the pipeline of new talent into the profession.

The RTPI’s State of the Profession research found that the number of planners working in the public sector shrunk by a quarter between 2009 and 2020. As well as encouraging entry-level workers into the profession, the Government should also consider how to replace public sector experience lost at the mid-career and managerial level

 

    b. Is there sufficient capacity in the English workforce?

See our response to Q14.