New towns offer exciting opportunities, but so do old towns
The recent official launch of the New Towns Taskforce report was a thrilling and long-awaited moment.
The development of new communities has had mixed success over the past century, but the chance to create thriving places from scratch is something that anyone who wants to deliver well-designed and sustainable homes would leap at.
I am sure I will not be the only leader in the sector to make the case for housing associations to be at the heart of these places – we are natural long-term stewards.
Through initiatives like Sovereign Network Group’s (SNG) own Homes and Place Standard, which is now nearly on its 40th iteration, our holistic approach would make these places a success over generations and secure housing and planning minister Matthew Pennycook’s legacy.
But this piece isn’t about the new towns.
While we should be exhilarated about the potential of these new places, we can’t lose sight of our existing towns or town centres. These also hold potential and so should receive the same level of energy and holistic thinking – a point that has also been made by Sir Michael Lyons, chair of the New Towns Taskforce.
SNG makes no secret of our ambition for the existing towns we work in and for the people who live in them. We see their potential to be the engines of rapid economic growth that chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking for as we head towards the Budget, while providing good, affordable and sustainable homes in places with existing infrastructure.
Take the area between Swindon, Reading, Farnborough, Southampton and Eastleigh as an example. It is already home to many leading national and international companies, including defence companies that are likely to grow as spending has to rise to deal with a more uncertain world. It’s also an area with excellent universities and strong transport connections that give an easy reach to the capital and Heathrow Airport.
Of course, these places have challenges. Many of the high streets and shopping centres are failing, partly because they are disconnected from the new estates on the outskirts. Many have large urban extension areas from the last major expansion of towns in the 1960s to 1970s.
While some places within these extensions have held up well, others have not, and we should be honest that many of these homes are reaching the end of their effective life. Continually patching these homes up as they degrade is not a good outcome for the resident, the community, or the housing association.
This was a reoccurring theme at the Labour Party Conference, with both housing association and council leaders raising it as an issue.
One of Steve Reed’s first major announcements as housing secretary was to extend the Pride of Place Fund, which shows that the government understands this is an issue.
While investment in these places is welcome, and right to give local people the power, it could go so much further and achieve so much more. Devolution opens the door to unlock new regional funds that draw institutional capital that can then be used to support town funds and individual schemes.
I know that I’m not the only one thinking this way. Over the past year I have met with council leaders and MPs who are passionate about the potential of their towns to both be fantastic places to live for generations of people and to be the engines of growth.
These old towns are an opportunity that is too good to be missed, and the chancellor should take it.
Originally published by Inside Housing on 29 October 2025