New towns: Why Starmer needs to avoid being a cowboy builder…
Promises can be a tricky thing in politics. Just look at the flack Nick Clegg received for pledging to scrap tuition fees, and then, well, not. Similarly, putting Partygate aside, I suspect Boris Johnson isn’t exactly fondly remembered as PM by those voters living in areas promised one of his 40 new hospitals.
While some new health facilities are now open to the public – and Labour came under fire after delaying some further – ultimately, the National Audit Office found: “By the definition the government used in 2020, it will not now deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030.”
Politicians breaking promises is seen by the public as frustrating, yet inevitable, while fermenting a source of fatalism over ambitious pledges elsewhere. As psephologist Professor Sir John Curtice told the National Centre for Social Research (NCSR): “[The] public is as doubtful as it has ever been about the trustworthiness and efficacy of the country’s system of government”. Resolving “some of the policy challenges will help in that endeavour”, he advises, but won’t be enough.
When it comes to our current prime minister, while avoiding the charge of doomsterism, it’s at least possible that Sir Keir Starmer may have just created his very own version of the 40 hospitals promise. He’s been out and about vowing (in cautious wording) to start work on 12 new towns by 2029 – with some 100 sites already put forward for consideration. That’s a whole lot more Welwyn Garden Cities coming to an area near you.
The Labour leader is insistent his government will “sweep aside the blockers” and “no longer accept ‘no’ as the default answer”. City PM readers – and columnists – have long championed the ‘build, baby, build’ mission, but prime ministers have been here before. Whether David Cameron’s failed new generation of garden cities, or Gordon Brown’s unsuccessful eco-towns, these missions have historically failed to get spades in the ground.
One risk in all this, naturally, is the mistake of promising anything. Once you’ve brought the subject up, particularly on something as emotionally resonant as new homes amid a housing crisis – fail to deliver, and frankly you’re worse off than before. Offering to fix something, and then failing to, can have the inverse effect of people blaming you for the problem.
New builds are rarely out of the headlines. Issues range from the Competition and Markets Authority reporting “fundamental concerns in the housebuilding market” to individual anecdotes from endless so-called ‘snags’ (aka defects discovered after buyers move in). Meanwhile, the skills minister recently admitted there simply aren’t enough construction workers in the UK to meet housing secretary Angela Rayner’s 1.5m new homes target.
Nonetheless, at this stage, Starmer’s plans have been welcomed by a whole host of property industry types. Nigel Bishop, from agency Recoco Property Search, greeted the confirmation that the new clusters would incorporate key infrastructure and public services, while agreeing “there is no denying that the UK is in dire need of more housing”. Melanie Leech, British Property Federation (BPF) chief executive, stressed that progress, including on taking action around statutory consultees creating delay in planning processes, was “welcome” and urged ministers to glean expertise from her members. “We’d urge the government to be even bolder in streamlining processes and ensuring they are adequately resourced,” she added.
The new towns pledge was included in the party’s pre-election manifesto, with Starmer vowing the “Labour government will build a new generation of new towns, inspired by the proud legacy of the 1945 Labour government… [as] part of a series of large-scale new communities across England”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves was also quick to highlight the issue of planning reform in a speech within days of entering No11. But given some months have now passed, the delay to the formal announcement is perhaps a nod to the intervening preparatory work behind the promise – or a lack of pre-government preparation.
Ultimately, we all know unexpected things can happen. It is the ‘events, dear boy’ curse of ambitious politicians. But, should Starmer pull his plans off, he may strike a different note in years to come. Labour will be praying the 12 new towns come together, or the PM will risk donning a ‘cowboy builder’ hat and joining his predecessors down the long avenue of broken promises.