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New town could cut house prices - council leader

Paul Moseley
Politics reporter, BBC Norfolk
BBC Daniel Elmer is standing in the headquarters of South Norfolk District Council. He's wearing a dark suit jacket over a grey shirt - and is wearing a pink and purple lanyard.BBC
South Norfolk District Council leader Daniel Elmer said building homes in one place would "protect" other towns and villages from over-development

House prices "will just go up and up" unless a new town with at least ten thousand homes is built, a council leader has said.

Conservative Daniel Elmer was responding to concerns that South Norfolk District Council had expressed interest in having one of the government's proposed new towns in its area.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) – which has opposed the idea – said there was "little evidence" a new settlement would lead to a drop in the cost of housing.

The government said its taskforce would give recommendations on locations for towns later this summer.

It has said more than 100 places had been put forward as possible locations for new towns, which ministers want to have at least 10,000 homes each.

Getty Images We can see houses under construction. They are surrounded by scaffolding. There's a dump truck lorry to the right of the picture.Getty Images
The government has said it wants to build up to 12 new towns in England

Earlier this year, Elmer said he was interested in one being built in south Norfolk, if it meant large numbers of properties were not added to existing settlements.

He has not said where he thinks the town could go, but admitted the idea had received a "mixed reaction" locally.

However, he insisted it could help with a shortage of affordable properties.

He said: "If we don't build now, supply will never keep up with demand and prices will just go up and up.

"But by building now we can make sure local people are able to stay close to their families, their homes and their jobs."

Like most parts of England, property prices have risen in South Norfolk.

According to the Office of National Statistics, the average house in the area cost £323,000 in January, up 7.8% from the year before.

Meanwhile, private rental properties cost an average of £920 per month, an increase of 6.2% on the previous 12 months.

PA Media Angela Rayner is wearing a high-visibility jacket and hard hat whilst standing on a construction site.PA Media
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has said the government will reveal the proposed sites for new towns in the summer

But CPRE's David Hook said there was "very little evidence that building more houses reduces the price of houses".

"If you increase the supply of housing, it doesn't necessarily cause a reduction in the price of housing because builders only build what can they can sell to maintain price levels," he added.

A government spokeswoman said the "New Towns Taskforce will make its recommendations on locations this summer".

She added: "Our new towns programme is the largest housebuilding programme since the post-war era and will help us restore the dream of homeownership for families across the country."

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