New Towns Acts

The New Towns Acts were a series of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to found new settlements or to expand substantially existing ones, to establish Development Corporations to deliver them, and to create a Commission to wind up the Corporations and take over their assets and liabilities. Of these, the more substantive acts were the New Towns Act 1946 and the Town Development Act 1952. "The New Towns Act [1946] was intended to pre-emptively direct urban growth and infrastructural development into new towns, thereby decentralising population and economic opportunity while inhibiting urban sprawl."^[1]

New Towns were developed in three generations.

• The first generation set up in the late 1940s concentrated predominantly on housing development with provision for rail and seldom for cars; eight were in a ring around London.
• The second generation in the early 1960s included a wider mix of uses and used more innovative architecture.
• The third generation towns were larger and tended to be designed around car travel.^[2]

By 2002, about 2 million people were housed in the New Towns, in about 500,000 homes.^[2]

The 1944 Abercrombie Plan for London proposed eight new towns within 50 miles (80 km) of London for up to 500,000 people from inner London. Similar recommendations were made for other major conurbations including Manchester and Birmingham. The 1945 Attlee Government set up a New Towns Commission^[3] to formally consider how best to repair and rebuild urban communities ravaged in World War II.

In 1945, John Reith, 1st Baron Reith was appointed as chair of the New Towns Commission. The commission concluded that there was a need to construct new towns using the instrument of development corporations supported by central government. The New Towns Act 1946 cemented this vision in 1946 and New Towns were born.

The Reith Commission recommended that:

• the new town developments should have a population of up to 60,000
• they should be built as far as possible on greenfield sites
• there should be predominantly single family housing at low density
• the homes had to be organised in neighbourhoods around a primary school and nursery schools, a pub and shops selling staple foods
• there should be a balance of housing and jobs ^[4]

New Towns Act 1946
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for the creation of new towns by means of development corporations, and for purposes connected therewith.
Citation	9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68
Dates
Royal assent	1 August 1946

An Act to provide for the creation of new towns by means of development corporations, and for purposes connected therewith.^[5]

The New Towns Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68) was the act that put into law the conclusions of the New Towns Commission. ") The act authorised the government to designate areas as new towns, and passing development control functions to a New Town Development Corporation. Several new towns were created in the years following its passing. The Act was replaced by the New Towns Act 1965 and, later, the New Towns Act 1981.

The act set up development corporations which were responsible for the management, design and development of New Towns. These were public corporations financed by the government through Treasury loans. The boards were appointed by central government; importantly, they were given planning and compulsory purchase order powers.

Their first task was to draw up development frameworks for a mix of housing, offices, industrial development, transport infrastructure and open space.^[6]

Town Development Act 1952
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to encourage town development in county districts for the relief of congestion or over-population elsewhere, and for related purposes, and to repeal subsection (5) of section nineteen of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1944, and part of subsection (1) of section five of the New Towns Act, 1946.
Citation	15 & 16 Geo. 6 & 1 Eliz. 2. c. 54
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Town Development Act 1952 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

Although not formally a "New Towns Act", the Town Development Act uses the powers established by the 1946 Act to expand existing towns to achieve the same or similar purposes.^[7][8] The introduction to the act gives its purpose: "An Act to encourage town development in county districts for the relief of congestion or over-population elsewhere, and for related purposes, [etc]".^[9] It was this act that enabled London County Council to establish its overspill estates as far away as Cornwall and Northamptonshire. By 1973, over 40 new and expanded towns were described in Parliament as "London overspill".^[10] The Act, despite being "obscure and almost forgotten", is credited as having a "significant effect upon the pattern of urban development" in the UK.^[11]

New Towns Act 1952
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to increase the amount of the advances which may be made under section twelve of the New Towns Act, 1946.
Citation	15 & 16 Geo. 6 & 1 Eliz. 2. c. 27
Dates
Royal assent	26 June 1952
Text of statute as originally enacted

New Towns Act 1953
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to increase the amount of the advances which may be made to development corporations under section twelve of the New Towns Act, 1946.
Citation	1 & 2 Eliz. 2. c. 38
Dates
Royal assent	31 July 1953
Other legislation
Repealed by	New Towns Act 1955
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

New Towns Act 1955
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to increase the amount of the advances which may be made to development corporations under section twelve of the New Towns Act, 1946.
Citation	3 & 4 Eliz. 2. c. 4
Dates
Royal assent	29 March 1955
Other legislation
Repealed by	New Towns Act 1958
Status: Repealed

New Towns Act 1958
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to increase the aggregate amount of the advances which may be made to development corporations under subsection (1) of section twelve of the New Towns Act, 1946; and to amend section thirteen of that Act in respect of the reports and accounts to be laid before Parliament.
Citation	6 & 7 Eliz. 2. c. 12
Dates
Royal assent	20 February 1958
Other legislation
Repealed by	New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

New Towns Act 1964
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make fresh provision respecting the limits on the amount of the advances which may be made to development corporations under section 12(1) of the New Towns Act 1946 and the Commission for the New Towns under section 3(1) of the New Towns Act 1959.
Citation	1964 c. 8
Dates
Royal assent	27 February 1964
Other legislation
Repealed by	New Towns Act 1965
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

New Towns Act 1966
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to raise the limit on advances imposed by section 43 of the New Towns Act 1965; to amend the Land Compensation Act 1961 and the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1963 in connection with extensions made after the commencement of this Act to the areas of new towns; to repeal provisions of section 46 of the New Towns Act 1965 and section 13 of the New Towns Act 1946 relating to certain accounts and reports; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation	1966 c. 44
Dates
Royal assent	13 December 1966
Text of statute as originally enacted

New Towns Act 1969
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to raise the limit on advances imposed by section 43 of the New Towns Act 1965, as amended by subsequent enactments.
Citation	1969 c. 5
Dates
Royal assent	6 March 1969
Other legislation
Repealed by	New Towns Act 1971
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

These were brief acts to increase the maximum borrowings permitted to fund the developments.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]}

New Towns Act 1959
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make, as respects England and Wales, new provision in place of section fifteen of the New Towns Act, 1946, as to the disposal of the undertakings of development corporations and other matters arising when a development corporation has achieved or substantially achieved the purposes for which it is established; to amend the law relating to development corporations by increasing the limit on the advances which may be made to them under sub section (1) of section twelve of that Act, by providing for housing subsidies to be wholly or partly withheld in respect of dwellings disposed of by them, and by authorising them to make contributions towards the provision of amenities; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation	7 & 8 Eliz. 2. c. 62
Dates
Royal assent	29 July 1959
Other legislation
Repealed by	New Towns Act 1981
Status: Repealed

An Act to make, as respects England and Wales, new provision in place of section fifteen of the New Towns Act, 1946, as to the disposal of the undertakings of development corporations and other matters arising when a development corporation has achieved or substantially achieved the purposes for which it is established; to amend the law relating to development corporations by increasing the limit on the advances which may be made to them under sub section (1) of section twelve of that Act, by providing for housing subsidies to be wholly or partly withheld in respect of dwellings disposed of by them, and by authorising them to make contributions towards the provision of amenities; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.^[19]

The New Towns Act 1959 established the Commission for New Towns.^[a] Under this Act, "the Minister of Housing and Local Government was authorised to set up a Commission on New Towns to take over the functions of the development corporations whose purposes had, in his opinion, been achieved or substantially achieved".^[20]

New Towns Act 1965
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to new towns and to matters connected therewith, being (except in the case of section 1(1) of the New Towns Act 1964) those enactments in their application to England and Wales; with corrections and improvements made under the Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act 1949.
Citation	1965 c. 59
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	5 August 1965
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes	Town and Country Planning Act 1944 New Towns Act 1958 New Towns Act 1964 New Towns (No. 2) Act 1964
Repealed by	New Towns Act 1981
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

It may startle some political economists to talk of commencing the building of new cities ... planned as cities from their first foundation, and not mere small towns and villages. ... A time will arrive when something of this sort must be done ... England cannot escape from the alternative of new city building.

— T. J. Maslen, 1843^[21]

The New Towns Act 1965 substantially rewrote and consolidated the 1946 act.^[22] While continuing the authority to establish further new towns, the act gives the Commission for the New Towns the task of "taking over, holding, managing and turning to account the property previously vested in the development corporation for a new town".^[22]: 1314

Several new towns were created in the years following its passing. Its most immediate use was the designation of Milton Keynes in 1967, which was envisaged to become a "new city" of 250,000 people.^[23] The 1965 act replaced the 1946 act and was replaced in turn by the 1981 act.

New Towns Act (Northern Ireland) 1965
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Northern Ireland
Long title	An Act to make provision for the creation of new towns, for the exercise by new town commissions of certain functions in relation to such towns, for the expansion or development of existing towns, and for purposes related to those matters.
Citation	1965 c. 13 (N.I.)
Territorial extent	Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	24 June 1965
Status: Current legislation
Text of the New Towns Act (Northern Ireland) 1965 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

Since most of the acts did not apply to Northern Ireland (and some not to Scotland), an equivalent act was passed in 1965 by the Parliament of Northern Ireland.^[24] Following the act, Craigavon was designated in July 1965.^[25]

New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to new towns and to matters connected therewith being those enactments in their application to Scotland; with corrections and improvements made under the Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act 1949.
Citation	1968 c. 16
Territorial extent	Scotland
Dates
Royal assent	28 March 1968
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes	New Towns Act 1946 New Towns Act 1958 New Towns Act 1964 New Towns (No. 2) Act 1964
Text of statute as originally enacted

The New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968 established equivalent legal powers in Scotland.^[26]

New Towns Act 1971
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to raise the limit on advances imposed by section 43 of the New Towns Act 1965, as amended by subsequent enactments.
Citation	1971 c. 81
Dates
Royal assent	16 December 1971

New Towns Act 1975
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to raise the limits imposed by the New Towns Act 1965 on the amounts which may be borrowed by the development corporations for new towns and the Commission for the New Towns and make provision for the payment of pensions to chairmen of development corporations and of remuneration and allowances to members of committees conducting business for the Commission.
Citation	1975 c. 42
Dates
Royal assent	3 July 1975

New Towns (Amendment) Act 1976
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for the transfer to district councils of the interest of the Commission for the New Towns and development corporations in dwellings and of any associated property, rights, liabilities and obligations; to increase the maximum number of members of development corporations; and for connected purposes.
Citation	1976 c. 68
Dates
Royal assent	15 November 1976

New Towns Act 1977
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to increase the limit imposed by section 43 of the New Towns Act 1965 on the amounts which may be borrowed by development corporations and the Commission for the New Towns.
Citation	1977 c. 23
Dates
Royal assent	22 July 1977

New Towns Act 1980
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to increase the limit imposed by section 43 of the New Towns Act 1965 on the amounts which may be borrowed by development corporations and the Commission for the New Towns.
Citation	1980 c. 36
Dates
Royal assent	30 June 1980

New Towns Act 1982
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to increase the limit imposed by section 60 of the New Towns Act 1981 on the amounts which may be borrowed by development corporations and the Commission for the New Towns.
Citation	1982 c. 7
Dates
Royal assent	25 February 1982
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the New Towns Act 1982 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

Urban Development Corporations (Financial Limits) Act 1987
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to remove the limit on the amount of grants that may be made to urban development corporations and to provide a new limit applicable only to the amounts for the time being outstanding in respect of sums borrowed by them and sums issued by the Treasury in fulfilment of guarantees of their debts.
Citation	1987 c. 57
Dates
Royal assent	17 December 1987
Text of the Urban Development Corporations (Financial Limits) Act 1987 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

These acts "increase the limit imposed by section 43 of the New Towns Act 1965 on the amounts which may be borrowed by development corporations and the Commission for the New Towns".^[27]

New Towns (Amendment) Act 1976
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to provide for the transfer to district councils of the interest of the Commission for the New Towns and development corporations in dwellings and of any associated property, rights, liabilities and obligations; to increase the maximum number of members of development corporations; and for connected purposes.
Citation	1976 c. 68
Dates
Royal assent	15 November 1976
Other legislation
Repealed by	New Towns Act 1981
Status: Repealed

Among other functions, this act provided for "the interest of the Commission for the New Towns and [the] development corporations in dwellings and of any associated property, rights, liabilities and obligations" to be transferred to district councils.^[28]

New Towns (Scotland) Act 1977
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision as respects the revocation or variation of orders made under section 1, 2 or 5(1) of the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968; and for connected purposes.
Citation	1977 c. 16
Territorial extent	Scotland
Dates
Royal assent	26 May 1977
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1977 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

This act amended the Scotland act of 1968, notably to include the option to cancel a new town proposal.^[29]

New Towns Act 1981
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to new towns and connected matters, being (except for section 43 of the New Towns Act 1965 and sections 126 and 127 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 and certain related provisions) enactments which apply only to England and Wales.
Citation	1981 c. 64
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	30 October 1981
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes	New Towns Act 1959 New Towns Act 1965 New Towns Act 1966 New Towns Act 1975 New Towns (Amendment) Act 1976 New Towns Act 1977 New Towns Act 1980
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the New Towns Act 1981 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

New Towns and Urban Development Corporations Act 1985
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision with respect to certain matters connected with new towns; to amend paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 31 to the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980; and for connected purposes.
Citation	1985 c. 5
Dates
Royal assent	11 March 1985
Status: Current legislation
Text of the New Towns and Urban Development Corporations Act 1985 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The New Towns Act 1981 is an "Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to new towns and connected matters, being (except for section 43 of the New Towns Act 1965 and sections 126 and 127 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 and certain related provisions) enactments which apply only to England and Wales."^[30]

Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to establish public bodies to be known as Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise and to make provision as to their functions; to dissolve the Scottish Development Agency and the Highlands and Islands Development Board; to make further provision as regards new towns in Scotland; and for connected purposes.
Citation	1990 c. 35
Territorial extent	Scotland
Dates
Royal assent	26 July 1990
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

This act replaced the Scottish Development Agency and the Highlands and Islands Development Board with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and authorised development of further new towns in Scotland.^[31]

New Towns (Amendment) Act 1994
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to amend Schedule 9 to the New Towns Act 1981.
Citation	1994 c. 5
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	24 March 1994
Other legislation
Repealed by	Housing and Regeneration Act 2008
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

This act establishes sub-committees of the Commission for New Towns, with authority to act on matters proper to them.^[32]

The following towns were created under various New Towns Acts:

Name	County[b]	Year designated	Built‑up area population[c]	Note
Basildon	Essex	1949	144,859[33]	Population is for Basildon and Wickford built-up area
Basingstoke	Hampshire	1961	107,642[34]	London overspill expansion, not New Towns Act
Bracknell	Berkshire	1949	77,256[35]
Central Lancashire	Lancashire	1970	313,332[36]	Development of Preston, Leyland and Chorley urban area, using New Towns Act powers.
Corby	Northamptonshire	1950	56,810[37]
Crawley	Sussex	1947	180,508[38]	Existing town substantially expanded. Urban area includes Gatwick Airport and Horley
Harlow	Essex	1947	82,059[39]
Hatfield	Hertfordshire	1948	41,677[40]	Urban area includes Colney Heath and Welham Green
Hemel Hempstead	Hertfordshire	1947	94,932[41]	Built-up area includes Kings Langley
Milton Keynes	Buckinghamshire	1967	229,941[42]	Existing towns and villages substantially expanded and infilled. As of the 2011 census, the Milton Keynes urban area includes Newport Pagnell and Woburn Sands, which were outside the original designated area.
Newton Aycliffe	County Durham	1947	25,964[43]
Northampton	Northamptonshire	1968	215,963[44]	Existing town significantly expanded
Peterborough	Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire[d]	1967	163,379[45]	Existing city substantially expanded
Peterlee	County Durham	1948	27,871[46]
Redditch	Worcestershire	1964	82,253[47]	Existing town substantially expanded
Runcorn	Cheshire	1963	62,872[48]
Skelmersdale	Lancashire	1961	34,455[49]
Stevenage	Hertfordshire	1946	90,232[50]
Swindon	Wiltshire	1952	185,609[51]	Existing town substantially expanded
Telford	Shropshire	1963 and 1968	147,980[52]	Existing towns substantially expanded and infilled.
Warrington	Lancashire	1968	165,456[53]	Existing town substantially expanded
Washington	Tyne and Wear	1964	67,085[54]

Name	County[b]	Year designated	Built‑up area population[c]	Note
Cumbernauld	North Lanarkshire	1955	52,270[55]
East Kilbride	South Lanarkshire	1947	74,395[55]
Glenrothes	Fife	1948	39,277[55]
Irvine	North Ayrshire	1966	33,698[55]	Ancient Royal Burgh, substantially expanded
Livingston	West Lothian	1962	56,269[55]

Name	County[b]	Year designated	Built‑up area population[c]	Note
Cwmbran	Gwent	1949	46,915[56]	Now part of the Newport built-up area
Newtown	Powys	1967	11,357[57]	Substantial expansion of existing town

Name	County[b]	Year designated	Built‑up area population[c]	Note
Craigavon	Armagh	1965	64,193[58]	Intended as a linear town to encompass Portadown and Lurgan, but has not yet done so. The population figure is for this statistical area and thus may be misleading.
Antrim	Antrim	1966	25,353[59]	Expansion of an existing town
Ballymena	Antrim	1967	29,467[60]	Expansion of existing town and nearby villages
Derry	Londonderry	1969	91,602[61]	Expansion of an existing city

• Millennium Communities Programme
• English land law
• Town and country planning in the United Kingdom

• Newtown Act 1747–8 act of the Parliament of Ireland

• Text of the New Towns Act 1946 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
• The Town and Country Planning Association's (TCPA) New Towns resources - including New Towns Network and All Parliamentarian Group