Head of Mortgages and Insurance Stephanie Charman explores whether the Government’s new garden homes are a possible answer to the UK housing crisis

A divisive plan to create nearly 50,000 homes within 14 garden villages across England has been announced by Housing Minister Gavin Barwell. Ministers have backed the building of the villages, which will be located on sites that include former airfields and much coveted green belt land. These new villages are smaller versions of the Government’s planned “garden cities”, each containing between 1,500 and 10,000 homes. But are they an answer to the UK housing crisis?

Where will the new homes be located?

Ministers have confirmed that the new villages will not be extensions of existing towns or villages. Instead, the Government has said that they will be “distinct new places with their own community facilities”. With several garden towns also announced, the whole “garden” project could deliver 200,000 new homes.

The first round of locations include sites in Cornwall and Cumbria, which makes them eligible for a share of a £6m support fund. The former Deenethorpe airfield in Northamptonshire will be one of the key locations. This 600-acre plot has been approved to include a village green, shops, a community hall and over 1,000 homes.

Other locations include an ecovillage in West Carclaze, Cornwall, where 1,500 homes will be built. These new energy efficient homes will sit alongside space for self-build and custom-built housing, as well as a brand new primary school.

Will they help solve the housing crisis?

One of the proposed solutions to the housing crisis has been the general decentralisation of housing and planning. With this in mind, Gavin Barwell said that the village development would be led by local communities, not central government. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) also said the plans would work to relieve the crisis if “done well with genuine local consent”.

But as well as the anticipated opposition to building on green belt land, the plans have also met some scepticism. Labour’s shadow housing secretary John Healey said: “In the last Parliament they promised a flagship ‘garden city’ at Ebbsfleet. Since 2012, we’ve had 32 government announcements on Ebbsfleet but less than 500 homes built … the country deserves a proper plan for fixing the housing crisis.”

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