The UK government has approved the development of 14 new “garden villages” and 3 new “garden towns” across England.
The new garden villages and towns are part of an effort to alleviate England’s housing crisis and are set to create tens of thousands of new homes across the country – from Cumbria to Cornwall, Devon to Derbyshire.
Garden villages are small settlements of between 1,500 and 10,000 homes, while garden towns are developments with over 10,000 homes.
The 14 new garden villages will have access to a £6 million fund over the next 2 financial years to support the delivery of these new projects.
The 14 new garden villages are:
- Long Marston in Stratford-on-Avon
- Oxfordshire Cotswold in West Oxfordshire
- Deenethorpe in East Northants
- Culm in Mid Devon
- Welborne near Fareham in Hampshire
- West Carclaze in Cornwall
- Dunton Hills near Brentwood, Essex
- Spitalgate Heath in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire
- Halsnead in Knowsley, Merseyside
- Longcross in Runnymede and Surrey Heath
- Bailrigg in Lancaster
- Infinity Garden Village in South Derbyshire and Derby City area
- St Cuthberts near Carlisle City, Cumbria
- North Cheshire in Cheshire East
The 3 new garden towns are:
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
- Taunton, Somerset
- Harlow & Gilston, Essex and Hertfordshire
Combined with seven garden towns and cities that have already been announced, these 17 new garden settlements have the combined potential to provide almost 200,000 new homes across the country.
Housing and Planning Minister Gavin Barwell said in an official statement:
“Locally-led garden towns and villages have enormous potential to deliver the homes that communities need.
“New communities not only deliver homes, they also bring new jobs and facilities and a big boost to local economies. These places combined could provide almost 200,000 homes.”
The new garden projects will also have access to the new £2.3 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund announced at the 2016 Autumn Statement.