Ryder and Okana provide an overview of the UK government’s approach to housing and planning reforms, along with its implications and opportunities for the design and construction sector.
Ryder and Okana are experts in shaping healthy, sustainable places which enhance wellbeing and strengthen communities through participatory and evidence-based design.
In this paper, along with Okana partners UrbanPlaceNetwork, i2C and Urban Col.labs, we provide an overview of the UK government’s approach to housing and planning reforms, along with its implications and opportunities for the design and construction sector.
This is particularly important in light of the increasing body of research indicating that some of our most pressing health challenges such as physical inactivity, mental health issues, and the needs of an aging population, are influenced by the places we inhabit, not just our buildings, but also our communities and cities. As designers, we can have an impact by providing environments which influence behaviour through connectivity, mixed uses, access to green space, sustainable transport, and opportunities for physical activity and social interaction.
Healthy placemaking can add environmental, economic and social value – huge opportunities for the creation of new homes and communities.
As the first in a series of articles, this sets the scene for subsequent topics including engagement, community participation and stewardship; rapid site selection, data mapping and digital tools; and key quality indicators for future placemaking, landscape and sustainability – both working with existing communities and buildings, as well as opportunities for new settlements and communities.
A multi-faceted strategy
The Spending Review 2025, labelled ‘transformative’ by housing leaders, announced £39bn for social and affordable housing over 10 years, along with £10bn for financial investments, some of which will support the delivery of new homes.1
This follows the government’s announcements that they are proposing to deliver much needed housing through “a new generation of New Towns” alongside “urban extensions and urban regeneration schemes”, intended to form a series of “new large scale communities across England”.2
Whilst New Towns offer some excellent placemaking opportunities, there are risks associated with taking an approach which relies predominantly on new large scale settlements to address the housing crisis.
Building at scale and pace, can make it more challenging to embed quality and sustainability in every place. There is also a risk of perpetuating car dependency which has increased in new housing developments over the last 15 years.3
Whilst many brownfield sites benefit from proximity to existing public transport and services, New Towns must have access to critical social infrastructure from day one. Could there be a risk that an emphasis on delivering New Towns comes at the expense of regenerating existing places?
Lessons should also be learnt from the post war New Towns programme which generally provided little opportunity for people to be involved in the planning and design process, leading to opposition from residents in many places. Community participation early on and the stewardship of community assets is vital for a successful and sustainable outcome.
We therefore believe that a diverse and integrated approach, encompassing a range of solutions to meet varied needs and contexts is required to address the climate, health and housing crises holistically.
This could include retrofitting existing homes, bringing empty homes back into use, repurposing existing buildings, developing brownfield sites in existing urban centres, transit-oriented densification and development, new and emerging housing models, urban extensions and creating New Towns in sustainable locations.
These must be defined in appropriate locations based on future climate projections (for example, rising sea levels), ecology, landscape and ability to apply climate adaptation and mitigation measures, along with guaranteed access to high quality public transport, active travel, and social infrastructure.
Urban health actions can often achieve co benefits for sustainable development goals, but they rely on collaborative action across all sectors, including health, planning, housing, transportation, water, sanitation, energy, and many others.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) sets out the key policy areas required: governance and finance, generating and working with evidence, fostering innovation, and generating and sustaining effective partnerships whilst promoting broad participation.4
For example, Liverpool Green Lanes is a Ryder and Okana collaboration which brings together private, public and third sector stakeholders.5 The initiative was awarded ‘Most Innovative Idea’ at the International Healthy City Design Congress.
Our vision for positive transformation in the city centre, providing people with access to a greener, healthier, more liveable and better connected urban environment has been selected as a case study for the WHO’s Strategic Guide to Urban Health.
The pressing need for homes
The housing crisis has been a huge issue in the UK for over a decade, with demand far outstripping supply.
Unsurprisingly, given these challenges, housing was a substantial issue in the 2024 UK general election. In its manifesto, the Labour Party promised to deliver “the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation”, with the ambition of delivering 1.5m new homes over the course of the next parliament.6
However, many people fear these housing targets do not consider strains on local infrastructure and a lack of capacity in the planning system and construction industry. And yet the potential societal ramifications of failing to meet demand are huge – for example, social housing waiting lists now exceed 100 years in some local authorities and costs the government £13.5bn per year more than in 2010.7
Estimates from the Centre for Cities put the number of homes ‘missing’ from current stock at 4.3 million.8
The revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published on 12 December 2024 following consultation.9
This now provides councils with local targets for new homes in their area, marking a reversal from the previous Conservative administration which had downgraded housing targets to advisory status.
The government has made clear that brownfield land should always be considered first, whilst indicating that brownfield land alone will not be enough to deliver the number of homes the country needs. As a result, councils will also be ordered to review green belt boundaries, which were created to prevent urban sprawl, by identifying lower quality ‘grey belt’ land that can be built on.
Relaxations in the planning process are guided by new ‘golden rules’ which state that plans must target at least 50% affordable housing delivery if land is released from the green belt, and must also boost public services and local infrastructure, and improve green spaces.
The government has indicated that, alongside extending existing settlements, it expects New Towns to play a key role in meeting its house building targets and has suggested that work on these will begin by 2029.10 In this case, the definition of a New Town is a settlement of at least 10,000 homes.11
The New Towns Code is expected to be a set of criteria that developers must meet in design and funding processes. The aim of this is to ensure that New Towns “deliver to the highest standards and help meet housing need by targeting rates of 40% affordable housing with a focus on genuinely affordable social rented homes”.12
Along with increasing the supply of homes by creating and expanding places, one of the primary objectives of the New Towns programme is to boost economic growth.
The New Towns Taskforce, an independent expert advisory panel, was established in September 2024, and have published an interim update13 before they report back in summer 2025 on potential locations for New Towns.
In addition to this, the Design Council has established its own Homes Taskforce to act as a partner to government and support “the delivery of 1.5 million homes within planetary boundaries”.14
The Design Council Homes Taskforce focuses on placing quality at the heart housebuilding, the low carbon construction of new homes and maximising the upgrading of existing buildings, outlined in their publication Design for Neighbourhoods.15
Additional policy dimensions which frame the approach include:
UK Industrial Strategy
Covering eight high growth sectors (manufacturing, creative industries, defence, digital and technology, financial services, life sciences and professional and business services). This indicates that housing will be focused around already mature economic areas and suggests that New Towns could be formed around industrial growth clusters.
English Devolution Bill
Substantial new powers announced in which every combined authority will have a duty to develop a spatial development strategy, apportioning housing targets across local areas. Mayors will also be granted call-in powers, allowing them to override local planning decisions in some circumstances – with this will be increased powers over compulsory purchase orders for use in residential projects specifically.
10 Year Infrastructure Plan
Effectively the ‘glue’ that is intended to tie economic growth to other policy areas. Launched in January 2025, it aims to “reduce uncertainty by bringing together a long-term plan for the country’s social, economic and housing infrastructure.” This includes transport, energy, water, flood risk management, digital, and waste, and also brings together plans for housing and social infrastructure – hospitals, schools, colleges and prisons, for the first time.
Our integrated perspective
Regardless of the chosen solution, a fundamental commitment to health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, quality of life, and long-term value must underpin all development. Ryder and Okana partners UrbanPlaceNetwork, UrbanCol.labs and i2C have combined expertise in creating thriving urban environments and high-quality buildings encompass place shaping, strategy and intelligence, data and GIS (geographic information system), economics, placemaking, urban design, architecture, landscape, heritage and sustainability.
Our shared belief is that by taking a holistic, place-based approach, rooted in the unique characteristics of each location and community – collectively we can create places we would be proud to call home. Taking cues from an area’s history, ecology, landscape, function and culture can help to imbue a new settlement with a sense of place.
We should ask ourselves the question – what makes this place special or unique, and how can this inform the way a new community might evolve in place?
Recognising that the UK’s housing challenge demands a multifaceted response, our approach moves beyond the singular focus of New Towns.
We believe a truly sustainable and effective strategy necessitates a diverse palette of solutions, each playing a crucial role in meeting housing targets while fostering vibrant, resilient, and high-quality places.
Retrofitting existing homes
Vast potential within our current housing stock could be unlocked through comprehensive yet fundamentally simple upgrades. This not only enhances energy efficiency, leading to reduced carbon emissions and lower household bills, but also extends the lifespan of existing buildings, creating warmer, healthier, and more comfortable living environments for residents.
To support this approach, could a national index be developed identifying readiness for housing retrofit, combining energy data, social needs, and neighbourhood vitality? Plot renewal, which also includes improvements to infrastructure, public spaces, and local services, alongside retrofit, could be a useful tool for facilitating retrofit at scale via house builders.
Retrofit led regeneration can also create opportunities for community engagement and local employment, providing skills and training for residents.
Ryder’s renovation of Bolam Coyne in the Byker estate in Newcastle is an excellent example of how a retrofit project can contribute to the regeneration of a local area and its community. The Grade II listed estate had been left derelict for over a decade before the renovation gave it a new lease of life.
Further detail is available in our retrofit case study.
Repurposing existing buildings
Embracing creative adaptation and breathing new life into underused or vacant non-residential buildings, from former offices and industrial sites to shops and civic structures, could deliver additional homes in already thriving communities.
This innovative approach can preserve architectural heritage, inject vibrancy into existing areas, and provide unique housing options to further diversify our housing market offer. i2C and Ryder collaborated on Make Room Housing, an award winning scheme which provides 50 apartments and rooftop garden for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness with 24/7 wrap around services. Using EnerPHit, a building standard developed by the Passive House Institute for retrofitting existing buildings, we repurposed a council owned commercial building into residential, applying the City of Melbourne’s Adaptive Reuse Guidelines.
The Make Room project is a unique partnership between City of Melbourne, Unison Housing, the Victorian Government and key philanthropic organisations to address the critical needs of people experiencing primary homelessness in the City of Melbourne. It not only meets immediate acute housing needs but is also designed to be replicated, potentially benefiting communities nationwide.
On 200 Renfield Street in Glasgow city centre, Ryder and Okana collaborated on a study which assessed options for the reuse, repurposing, extension or new build of a vacant office block.
This included an evaluation through a whole life carbon assessment, market viability, and placemaking principles including microclimate assessment, its connectivity and location within a vibrant 15-minute neighbourhood, and its contribution to the council’s ambition of increasing the city centre population.
Developing brownfield sites in existing urban centres
Prioritising the redevelopment of previously developed land, including urban infill development, offers significant sustainability advantages. It reduces pressure on greenfield areas, utilises existing infrastructure, and can contribute to the regeneration and vitality of urban cores.
Brownfield sites can pose challenges in terms of remediation costs, or space available (for example, ground and air source heat pumps), but there are also opportunities for brownfield sites to be the catalyst for district heating and connected low zero carbon energy networks.
At Whipps Cross, the vision is to facilitate a viable, sustainable and healthy campus around a new hospital, focusing on family housing, supported living and wellbeing.
It will provide up to 1,500 homes, including 50% affordable units, and community and health facilities. Different approaches to housing models were tested through our environmental appraisal. As part of the masterplanning process we have identified opportunities for decarbonisation including potential opportunities for ground boring energy generation from within the site. Passive design methods (including site, building form and envelope) and a fabric first approach, are always considered before active systems benefiting the community, reducing energy costs and fuel poverty.
The masterplan places nature at the heart of the development with a strong emphasis on biodiversity improvements and links to wellbeing. Over 8,000sqm of new play space, including natural play and nature trails, outdoor gym and play areas are included within the scheme.
There are two new public parks together with a flood alleviation scheme which will address existing issues in the surrounding community.
The significant urban greening and open spaces aim to improve air quality, biodiversity and connect into the existing neighbourhood by enhancing the active travel network of walking and cycling routes, as well as providing a mobility hub on site.
This Ryder led project is an example of how government capital projects, such as the New Hospitals Programme, can unlock the delivery of much needed new homes in sustainable locations.
Finzels Reach in Bristol is a residential led mixed use development on the site of the former Courage Brewery. It exemplifies a comprehensive approach to masterplanning and urban design, integrating connectivity, sustainability, and community engagement.
Another former industrial site, a pin factory in Leeds city centre, has been transformed into Tower Works which provides 245 new homes and amenities.
Ryder led this scheme which sensitively incorporates three Grade II listed towers within the Holbeck conservation area, and has revitalised the area which now features commercial units and barges on the Leeds- Liverpool canal and easy access to Leeds railway station, demonstrating the benefits of urban brownfield redevelopment.
New and emerging household models and partnerships
We should further encourage innovation and collaboration to diversify housing options. Of crucial importance is the drive toward a significant expansion of social, affordable and specialist housing delivered through effective partnerships between public and private sectors.
We are currently working in the Northwest and West Yorkshire with PossAbilities, a social enterprise that works to support vulnerable adults including those with learning difficulties, dementia and care leavers. Working closely with the client, we have designed models which suit the requirements of their residents and are also supporting them to quickly appraise sites for opportunities to expand their portfolio.
Multi-generational models are evidenced in Ryder’s research on Housing an Ageing Population and our Grace House project in London.
Build to Rent (BtR), a well-established residential sub sector, offers professionally managed rental properties. Other potential opportunities include suburban density through models such as Suburban Build to Rent (SBtR). Co living schemes are also becoming increasingly popular, particularly in London, and whilst they can foster a sense of community and offer relative affordability, it is important that the Nationally Described Space Standards (NDSS) are the starting point for affordable housing.
Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) in some instances can help to deliver affordable housing provision, demonstrating how multi tenured, cross sector development is a great way of increasing viability. For example, Ryder is working for Regal London on the Chalk Farm Road development.
The proposals provide 264 bed student accommodation, 30 affordable homes, commercial space, public realm improvements, new areas of landscaping, amenity and play space, and improved accessibility to the site adjacent to the Roundhouse in Camden.
Urban extensions and densification around transit
Carefully planning outward growth from existing settlements in a way that is environmentally sensitive and well-integrated is key, particularly in terms of contaminated agricultural lands, flood plains, wind modelling and future climate analysis.
This requires thoughtful consideration of infrastructure capacity, green space provision, community integration, and the creation of walkable, cyclable neighbourhoods. Creating well-connected, mixed-use communities strategically located around public transport hubs is one way of achieving successful and sustainable urban extensions.
This approach reduces reliance on private vehicles, promotes sustainable mobility, fosters vibrant local centres with accessible amenities, and supports higher density living in appropriate locations. For example, Ryder led the design for Fulton Road in London, the newest addition to the Wembley Park neighbourhood adjacent the existing transport hub, delivering over 850 new tenure blind homes, including 35% affordable homes, over 3,500sqm of retail and workspace, and a new waterside park.
At a wider scale, Ryder produced spatial masterplans for four towns in Nottinghamshire to demonstrate the economic, social and environmental benefits of linking existing train stations on the Maid Marian Line to the proposed high speed rail station.
UrbanPlaceNetwork have extensive experience of Transit Orientated Development (TOD), including East Village in Calgary, Canada which integrates a light rail transit station, and Birmingham Fiveways for Calthorpe Estates, a high density residential led, mixed use masterplan focused on the commuter rail and metro stations.
Creating high quality New Towns in sustainable locations
The creation of entirely new settlements represents one potential element within a broader strategy, but these must be conceived with a long-term vision. This includes using current and future data to holistically map and plan for the location of new settlements. Making high quality green infrastructure integral to placemaking brings benefits to wellbeing, wildlife and water, as set out in the Building with Nature benchmark.
At Ryder, we have Building with Nature Approved Assessors who can support projects in applying these principles and gaining this award.
Alongside sustainable design and infrastructure, fostering a strong creative economy, through affordable live-work spaces for artists, cultural hubs, and grassroots cultural initiatives, can nurture authenticity, support a sense of belonging, and enable residents to actively contribute to shaping the evolving identity of new settlements.
We cover these topics in greater depth in our forthcoming research pieces on data mapping and site selection, and sustainability and landscape led placemaking.
Our collaborative competition entry, Neostead with partners UrbanPlaceNetwork, Blue Pencil Design, KA-Architects, Yeme Tech, ystudio, Hydrock, Fira and Coverdale Barclay, is a proposal for a large scale ‘garden community’ of circa 10,000 homes on the outskirts of Colchester in Essex. It is formed on the principles of well-placed village centres for 15 minute living, a rich mosaic of landscapes rooted in biodiversity, sustainable transport and active travel connectivity integrated with green and blue infrastructure, and a circular economy applied to design, supply, construction and recycling.
At a smaller scale, Cottingwood on the edge of Morpeth, a historic market town in Northumberland, exemplifies many of these principles.
Ryder’s landscape led masterplan for 875 homes for Homes England includes a network of greenways providing safe and attractive routes for pedestrians and cyclists linking homes to the new neighbourhood centre, green spaces, schools and the town centre.
Designing for an evolving future
To truly address the UK’s housing crisis and build sustainable communities, we must engage with the lessons etched in the history of past housing initiatives. From the ambitious post war New Towns to more recent urban regeneration projects and suburban expansions, each endeavour offers valuable insights into what fosters thriving places and what leads to stagnation or social fragmentation.
The initial wave of UK New Towns, while aiming to decentralise populations and provide quality housing, often fell short in key areas. A common critique was a lack of genuine community engagement in the planning stages, leading to a sense of imposition rather than ownership – being ‘planned for’ rather than ‘planned with’.
Social infrastructure, while often planned, sometimes lagged behind housing delivery, leaving residents isolated and lacking essential amenities in the early years. Connectivity, both physical and social, was not always prioritised, resulting in car dependent communities and a lack of integration with surrounding areas.
The lessons are clear: future developments, including any new iterations of New Towns, must embed meaningful and continuous engagement from inception, ensuring local voices shape the vision.
Social infrastructure – schools, healthcare, community spaces, and green areas, must be planned and delivered in tandem with housing, fostering a sense of belonging from day one. Prioritising connectivity, through integrated public transport, cycling and walking networks, waste and recycling networks and digital infrastructure, is crucial to creating accessible and sustainable communities. For example, this is one area even some of the newest developments struggle with, where the rush to build houses means there is still no social infrastructure years into people living there.
Phasing is key to ensure that people are able to feel part of and develop communities. This would be helped by greater cohesion and alignment between public and private stakeholders in development, as highlighted in our next research piece ‘From Talk to Town: Co creating the future of New Towns’.
Furthermore, community integration with existing settlements, the fostering of social interaction, and creating and promoting opportunities for long term stewardship are all vital for long term cohesion.
The shortcomings of some past New Towns, such as monocultural development and inflexible layouts, highlight the need for designs that can adapt to future needs.
Responding to shifting demographics
The UK’s population is undergoing significant demographic shifts that demand a nuanced approach to housing. An ageing population requires homes that are accessible, adaptable, and located within supportive communities with access to healthcare and social services.
Ryder’s Grace House exemplifies this principle, showcasing how apartment designs can be inherently flexible, allowing for easy adaptation to accommodate evolving care needs, even to the extent of integrating live in care facilities without significant structural alterations. This foresight ensures residents can age in place with dignity and independence.
Adaptable and flexible homes should be able to respond to all life stages – from raising small children to coping with illness or dealing with reduced mobility in later life.
In England, the Lifetime Homes Standards was superseded in 2015 by M4(2) Part M of Building Regulations, and in 2022, the government announced plans to raise the baseline accessibility standard for all new homes to M4(2).
Scottish Building Standards Section 7, meanwhile encourages incorporating features that allow the building to be easily modified or adapted to changing needs in the future, for example, changing bedrooms to home offices, moving a bedroom to the ground floor, space for pushchair and wheelchair storage and charging, ensuring a long lifespan and relevance.
Diversity and inclusivity must be considered alongside this – how do we provide high quality, appropriate housing for people of different cultures who may have different domestic spatial requirements, perhaps not aligned to the current NDSS? This topic will be explored further in Ryder’s forthcoming ‘Design for everyone’ research pieces.
Simultaneously, the preferences and lifestyles of younger generations are reshaping housing demands with a focus on connectivity, flexibility, sense of community, and integrated technology.
This is mirrored by a societal shift towards a greater emphasis on experiences. Future housing solutions must therefore offer a range of typologies and tenure options, fostering diverse and adaptable communities that cater to these evolving needs and integrating a mix of uses.
Integrating technological advancements
Technology offers unprecedented opportunities to enhance the sustainability, efficiency, and liveability of our homes and communities.
Smart homes with integrated energy management systems can reduce consumption and costs, for example, smart meters with time of use tariffs, energy regulators and voltage optimisers, in home energy use displays and smart home heating systems.
Digitally connected new communities can optimise resource management, enhance security, and facilitate seamless access to services. The advent of autonomous transport and deliveries, while still evolving, has the potential to reshape urban planning. However, this does not replace the need for a modal shift to active travel and sustainable transport.
Imagine urban areas with significantly fewer cars, replaced by efficient public transport, co mobility, and mobility as a service. This vision translates to more space for play, relaxation, growing food, community expansion, and breathing cleaner air. Futureproofing infrastructure is paramount. New developments must incorporate robust digital connectivity, adaptable energy grids capable of integrating renewable sources, and infrastructure that can accommodate emerging technologies, for example, hydrogen networks. Parts of a development could be allocated to macro renewables such as solar farms with energy storage, providing greater energy security.
This requires a forward-thinking approach in planning and design, embracing innovation.
Building resilience in the face of climate change
Climate change presents significant challenges that must be front and centre in all housing development.
Crucially, planning must consider the longer-term implications of climate change, including expanding flood risk zones and more frequent extreme weather events. Sustainable drainage techniques, such as permeable paving and green roofs, can manage surface water runoff effectively, reducing flood risk and enhancing biodiversity.
Passive design principles, which maximise natural light and ventilation, and minimise the need for artificial heating and cooling, are crucial for creating energy efficient and comfortable homes. Who is responsible for ensuring that domestic dwellings do not overheat or need to rely on energy hungry ad hoc air conditioning? Or for avoiding urban heat islands?
The selection of sustainable and innovative materials with low embodied carbon, such as timber, recycled materials, and locally sourced resources, is vital for reducing the environmental impact of construction.
There should be a push towards design for disassembly and design for future retrofit, where parts of the building are demountable or more easily deconstructed to support future designers and retrofit professionals to easily and quickly upgrade the home’s thermal envelope and systems. Life cycle analysis should also be used as a building regulation KPI to boost the specification of locally sourced, biogenic, natural fibre insulation.
Ryder’s research piece ‘Closing the loop’ explores this topic in greater detail and includes Okana’s Resource Efficient House case study.
Whether retrofitting existing buildings or constructing new settlements, a commitment to climate resilience is non-negotiable to ensure the long-term viability and wellbeing of our planet and communities.
By learning from the past, responding to evolving demographics, embracing technological advancements, and prioritising climate resilience, we can move beyond a singular focus on numbers and create a diverse range of high-quality housing solutions that truly meet the needs of the UK population and create more resilient, sustainable, and thriving communities for the long term.
Next steps
Ryder, Okana and partners are committed to contributing to a comprehensive and quality driven strategy to address the UK’s housing challenge.
We will publish subsequent articles, delving deeper into specific solutions, including:
From talk to town: co creating the future of New Towns
Data mapping and site selection
Sustainability and landscape led placemaking
Future places and design principles
Design for everyone
Brown, C. (2025) Spending review 2025: All our coverage in one place and key measures at-a-glance. Housing Today. https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/spending-review-2025- all-our-coverage-in-one-place-and-key-measures-at-aglance/5136465.article
UK Government. (2024). Policy paper: National Planning Policy Framework. UK Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policyframework–2
(Kiberd, E & Stranák B. (2024) Trapped behind the wheel: How England’s new builds lock us into car dependency. New Economics Foundation. https://neweconomics.org/2024/11/trapped-behind-the-wheel
World Health Organisation. (2023).Governance and financing for urban health: policy brief. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240082892
World Health Organisation. (2023).Generating and working with evidence for urban health: policy brief. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240084032
World Health Organisation. (2024). Innovation for urban health: policy brief. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240090040
World Health Organisation. (2024). Partnerships and participation for urban health: policy brief. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240092587
Ryder Architecture. (2024) Liverpool Green Lanes: Connecting Communities. Retrieved 02/06/2025 from https://www.ryderarchitecture.com/news/liverpool-greenlanes- connecting- communities/
The Labour Party. (2024) Change: Labour Party Manifesto 2024. The Labour Party. https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/labour-manifesto-2024-sign-up/
National Housing Federation. (2025) Over a hundred years’ wait for a family-sized social home. National Housing Federation, Crisis, Shelter. https://www.housing.org.uk/newsand-blogs/news/over-a-hundred-years-wait-for-a-familysized-social-home/
Watling, S & Breach, A. (2023) The Housebuilding Crisis. Centre for Cities. https://www.centreforcities.org/publication/the-housebuilding-crisis/
UK Government. (2024). Policy paper: Policy statement on new towns. UK Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/policy-statement-on-new-towns/policystatement-on-new-towns
Geiger, C. (2025) Work on new towns to begin by 2029, minister says. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly7kn4z399o
New Towns Taskforce. (2025). Building new towns for the future: Interim Update. New Towns Taskforce. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-new-townsfor-the-future
Pennycook, M. (2024). Statement: The Government’s vision for a new generation of new towns. UK Parliament. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-10-08/hcws112
(New Towns Taskforce, 2025) Building new towns for the future: Interim Update. New Towns Taskforce. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-new-towns-for-thefuture
Design Council (2025) Design for Neighbourhoods: A design agenda for the new government. https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/policy-and-advocacy/designcouncilhomestaskforce
Design Council. (2025) Design for Neighbourhoods: A design agenda for the new government. https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-work/policy-and-advocacy/design-councilhomes-taskforce