Earlier in 2026, two 'New Towns' were shortlisted for construction in Greater London, as part of an ambitious Government scheme. But things are already getting complicated. Here's the lowdown.
What exactly is the New Towns Programme?
Introduced by the (then fresh-faced) Labour government, the New Towns Programme is an ambitious project to emulate the post-war building boom that saw the creation of Stevenage, Harlow, Milton Keynes and many more. In all, 32 new towns were built. The UK, says the government, is suffering from a "chronic shortage of housing" "[that] is not only blighting countless lives but also hampering economic growth and productivity."
With the potential of building up to half a million homes, the New Towns programme is touted as the biggest housebuilding project in half a century. The Government claims that every new town will be "designed for modern, everyday life — with neighbourhoods that people can easily get around without a car, shared green spaces and vibrant high streets."
It's not just about housing, though. Some of these new towns will also feature added infrastructure to help them connect and thrive.
An initial shortlist of 12 New Town sites has been whittled down to a final seven. Although, as we'll learn, those seven have already become six...
Where will the proposed new towns be?
Outside of London, five New Towns are planned for Tempsford in Bedfordshire; Leeds South Bank in West Yorkshire; Manchester Victoria North in Greater Manchester; Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc in South Gloucestershire; and Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire.
Naturally, our interest lies in the two new towns mooted for Greater London. These are:
🏗️ Thamesmead in Greenwich, where up to 15,000 homes would go on a 100-hectare brownfield site along the Thames, touted as one of "the last major undeveloped waterfront sites in London and the south east". It's already got a flashy name: Thamesmead Waterfront. Technically speaking, as this explainer from TL;DR tells us, the 'New Town' at Thamesmead would be more urban infill.
🏗️ Crews Hill and Chase Park in Enfield, which would have seen up to 21,000 homes built on 884 hectares of green belt land. We say 'would have' because as of May 2026, Enfield has voted in a minority Tory government which has immediately withdrawn from the New Towns Programme. A significant blow early on for the project.
Isn't there already a town in Thamesmead?
Famously, Thamesmead itself was built in the late 1960s as a 'town of tomorrow'— with a progressive design of elevated walkways built around lakes and canals, and on-site amenities including schools, supermarkets, GPs and banks. Alas, funding ran out, and the utopian dream had to be seriously compromised.
While Thamesmead is technically a town already then, there is ample room for improvement. Perhaps the New Towns Programme is a second chance to be the town it always should have been.
There's plenty of action already happening at Thamesmead, separate from the New Towns Programme. This includes 2,000 new homes at Lombard Square (the first of which have now been completed), and the proposed demolition/redevelopment of the 1960s Lesnes estate, which'll forever be remembered for its cameo in A Clockwork Orange.
Where's all the money coming from?
All over the place in theory, including central government, the newly-launched National Housing Bank and private investors.
When will London's New Towns actually be built?
Probably not for a while. The government has said it's determined the get 'spades in the ground' on some of the sites by the end of its term (probably 2029). One of these sites was supposed to be Enfield. As we know, that now won't be the case — at least not under the New Towns designation.
Thamesmead Waterfront may be contingent on the construction of the DLR extension to the town. This itself is a project that keeps being pushed back; work should in theory now begin on this in 2029, meaning the previous estimate that the extension would be ready by the 'early 2030s' is optimistic.
Zanna Bowles MRICS, partner, head of land and development at property consultancy Bidwells says the suggested timeframes "will prove unrealistic unless development corporations are established promptly and able to work outside the conventional local planning authority process."
