New towns on the horizon

New towns on the horizon

From The Rundown by PoliticsHome by PoliticsHome

March 27, 2026 · 48 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the government's plans for new towns in England and their impact on the housing crisis.

After the housing secretary Steve Reed announced plans for the creation of seven new towns in England, The Rundown this week looks at how the government is tackling this country’s housing crisis, and how it is getting on in meeting its supremely ambitious target of building 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament. Host Alain Tolhurst caught up with housing minister Matthew Pennycook to discuss how important new towns are to his department’s aims, and their wider economic benefits and creation of a new sense of place, or if they are a distraction in trying to hit the numbers of houses that communities are crying out for. Later in the episode a fantastic panel discusses a whole host of issues around these proposed settlements, featuring the Labour MP Sean Woodcock , who sits on the housing select committee, alongside Vicky Spratt , housing and society correspondent the i newspaper, Professor Susan Parham , head of urbanism and planning and director of the University of Hertfordshire Urbanism Unit, and Rico Wojtulewicz , head of policy and market insight at the National Federation of Builders. To sign up for our newsletters click here Presented by Alain Tolhurst, produced by Nick…

People in this episode

Host: Alain Tolhurst

Guests: Matthew Pennycook, Sean Woodcock, Vicky Spratt, Susan Parham, Rico Wojtulewicz

Topics covered

  • housing crisis
  • new towns
  • government policy
  • urban planning
  • economic benefits
  • community development

Keywords

  • housing secretary
  • new homes
  • building targets
  • urbanism
  • housing policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Federation of Builders, the i newspaper, University of Hertfordshire Urbanism Unit, PoliticsHome

Places: England

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