First details of Labour's new towns with at least 10,000 homes planned in each

The government has announced the first details of the new towns that Labour promised before the general election.

The party has promised the largest housebuilding programme since the post-war period as part of plans to kickstart economic growth and 'get Britain building again'. This will include building new towns with at least 10,000 homes in each, and some 'significantly larger'.

It comes after Ashton-under-Lyne MP Angela Rayner unveiled major planning reforms in Parliament on Tuesday (July 30). The Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary announced that mandatory local housing targets will be imposed on councils with some expected to build on the green belt, while the Right to Buy scheme will be changed to help councils build more affordable housing.

READ MORE: Winter fuel payment, pension credit and NHS: How the Rachel Reeves announcements affect you

The government has now revealed the first details of the new towns set to be built across the country. These new communities will be governed by a ‘New Towns Code’ - a set of rules that developers will have to meet, which will include affordable housing targets.

While the programme will include large-scale new communities that are separate from existing settlements, the government has said, a far larger number of new towns will be urban extensions and regeneration schemes. Around 40 per cent of housing in the new towns is expected to be affordable, the government has announced, promising to focus on genuinely affordable social rented homes.

The Deputy Prime Minister has asked regeneration expert Sir Michael Lyons to chair the independent New Towns Taskforce with top housing economist Dame Kate Barker serving as his deputy. The group will work to make this vision a