THE locations for seven new towns in the UK have been unveiled with plans for 191,000 homes.
Originally, there were plans for 12 new sites but this has been cut back.
As many as 15,000 homes could be built in Manchester Victoria North, with plans also including a new Metrolink stop.
Elsewhere, up to 40,000 home could be built in Tempsford, Bedforshire, along with a new East West rail station.
While some 15,000 homes could be constructed in Thamesmead, Greenwich.
The plan is being billed as the most ambitious housebuilding scheme in some 50 years.
The final locations are due to be confirmed later in 2026.
Labour’s manifesto had pledged a new generation of towns “inspired by the proud legacy of the 1945 Labour government” in a bid to get to grips with the housing crisis.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has promised digging of the sites by 2029.
Last year he pledged that at least 40 percent of homes would be affordable, including social housing.
No decision on the names of the new towns has been taken yet but the late Queen Elizabeth could be honoured with a new town named after her – Elizabethtown.
Other place names under consideration include Pankhurst, named after the suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurt, and Attleeton named after the former Labour prime minister Clement Attlee, who began a huge postwar new towns programme.
The proposed locations of the new towns
- Tempsford, Bedfordshire — up to 40,000 homes built around a new East West Rail station, linking residents to Cambridge, Oxford, London and Milton Keynes
- Crews Hill and Chase Park, Enfield — up to 21,000 homes helping to meet London’s acute housing need
- Leeds South Bank, West Yorkshire — up to 20,000 homes capitalising on the city’s economic momentum and the government’s £2.1 billion local transport investment
- Manchester Victoria North, Greater Manchester — at least 15,000 homes regenerating the heart of Greater Manchester, with a new Metrolink stop connecting residents to jobs across the city
- Thamesmead, Greenwich — up to 15,000 homes unlocking inaccessible riverside land in London, enabled by the planned Docklands Light Railway extension
- Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc, South Gloucestershire — up to 40,000 homes at the heart of a world-class research and advanced engineering economy
- Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire — building on its history as one of the original new towns, to take forward the ‘renewed town’ vision to expand the city by around 40,000 homes and reinvigorate the centre with a new local transport system, boosting connectivity in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor
Other names under consideration include Athelstan, who is considered to be the first King of England who ruled between 925 and 939.
Mary Seacole, a Jamaican-British nursed who tended to wounded soldiers in the Crimean War, could also see her surname become a place name.
All proposed names will go through a public consultation with local leaders having the final say.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: “People want real change – homes they can afford, local infrastructure that works, and good jobs in thriving communities.
“Our next generation of new towns marks a turning point in how we build for the future.
“From the ground up, we’re planning whole communities with homes, jobs, transport links, and green spaces designed together — so we can give families the security and opportunities they deserve.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves added: “For decades this country’s planning system has been a direct obstacle to building new homes, ramping up costs and pricing young people out of the housing market.
“Two years ago, I promised that we would grasp the nettle of planning reform.
“Now we’re planning to build a new generation of new towns, opening up the expansion of our most dynamic cities and raise up new communities.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: “We are glad to see Victoria North getting this backing from the Government.
“It is one of the UK’s most ambitious regeneration projects right at the heart of its fastest-growing city-region.
“Victoria North will see the building of 15,000 new homes, including many for social rent, alongside high-quality green spaces close to our city centre.”
The government plans to build the new towns in a “holistic” way “that meets communities’ growing needs” and promising to “ensure the utilities, health, education, and digital infrastructure to underpin new towns from the outset.”
The government also assessed six further new town locations — Adlington, Heyford Park, Marlcombe (East Devon), Plymouth, South Barking and Wychavon Town — which will not be taken forward at this stage but are thought to be credible development opportunities and may continue to be supported through existing housing programmes.
