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.
By 2002, about 2 million people were housed in the New Towns, in about 500,000 homes.
The 1944 Abercrombie Plan for London proposed eight new towns within 50miles 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 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:
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1946 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1946 |
| Citation: | 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68 |
| Royal Assent: | 1 August 1946 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
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.
| Short Title: | Town Development Act 1952 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1952 |
| Citation: | 15 & 16 Geo. 6 & 1 Eliz. 2. c. 54 |
| Status: | amended |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6and1Eliz2/15-16/54/enacted |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
| Uk-Leg Title: | Town Development Act 1952 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
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.[2] [3] 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]".[4] 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".[5] The Act, despite being "obscure and almost forgotten", is credited as having a "significant effect upon the pattern of urban development" in the UK.[6]
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1952 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1952 |
| Citation: | 15 & 16 Geo. 6 & 1 Eliz. 2. c. 27 |
| Royal Assent: | 26 June 1952 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1953 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1953 |
| Citation: | 1 & 2 Eliz. 2. c. 38 |
| Royal Assent: | 31 July 1953 |
| Repealing Legislation: | New Towns Act 1955 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1955 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1955 |
| Citation: | 3 & 4 Eliz. 2. c. 4 |
| Royal Assent: | 29 March 1955 |
| Repealing Legislation: | New Towns Act 1958 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1958 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1958 |
| Citation: | 6 & 7 Eliz. 2. c. 12 |
| Royal Assent: | 20 February 1958 |
| Repealing Legislation: | New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1964 |
| Citation: | 1964 c. 8 |
| Royal Assent: | 27 February 1964 |
| Repealing Legislation: | New Towns Act 1965 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1966 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1966 |
| Citation: | 1966 c. 44 |
| Royal Assent: | 13 December 1966 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1969 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1969 |
| Citation: | 1969 c. 5 |
| Royal Assent: | 6 March 1969 |
| Repealing Legislation: | New Towns Act 1971 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
These were brief acts to increase the maximum borrowings permitted to fund the developments.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1959 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1959 |
| Citation: | 7 & 8 Eliz. 2. c. 62 |
| Royal Assent: | 29 July 1959 |
| Repealing Legislation: | New Towns Act 1981 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
The New Towns Act 1959 established the Commission for New Towns. 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".[14]
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1965 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1965 |
| Citation: | 1965 c. 59 |
| Territorial Extent: | England and Wales |
| Royal Assent: | 5 August 1965 |
| Repealing Legislation: | New Towns Act 1981 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
The New Towns Act 1965 substantially rewrote and consolidated the 1946 act.[15] 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".
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.[16] The 1965 act replaced the 1946 act and was replaced in turn by the 1981 act.
| Short Title: | New Towns Act (Northern Ireland) 1965 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1965 |
| Citation: | 1965 c. 13 (N.I.) |
| Territorial Extent: | Northern Ireland |
| Royal Assent: | 24 June 1965 |
| Status: | current |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
| Uk-Leg Title: | New Towns Act (Northern Ireland) 1965 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
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.[17] Following the act, Craigavon was designated in July 1965.
| Short Title: | New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1968 |
| Citation: | 1968 c. 16 |
| Territorial Extent: | Scotland |
| Royal Assent: | 28 March 1968 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
The New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968 established equivalent legal powers in Scotland.[18]
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1971 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1971 |
| Citation: | 1971 c. 81 |
| Royal Assent: | 16 December 1971 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1975 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1975 |
| Citation: | 1975 c. 42 |
| Royal Assent: | 3 July 1975 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns (Amendment) Act 1976 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1976 |
| Citation: | 1976 c. 68 |
| Royal Assent: | 15 November 1976 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1977 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1977 |
| Citation: | 1977 c. 23 |
| Royal Assent: | 22 July 1977 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1980 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1980 |
| Citation: | 1980 c. 36 |
| Royal Assent: | 30 June 1980 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1982 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1982 |
| Citation: | 1982 c. 7 |
| Royal Assent: | 25 February 1982 |
| Status: | current |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/7/enacted |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
| Uk-Leg Title: | New Towns Act 1982 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | Urban Development Corporations (Financial Limits) Act 1987 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Citation: | 1987 c. 57 |
| Royal Assent: | 17 December 1987 |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
| Uk-Leg Title: | Urban Development Corporations (Financial Limits) Act 1987 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
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".[19]
| Short Title: | New Towns (Amendment) Act 1976 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1976 |
| Citation: | 1976 c. 68 |
| Royal Assent: | 15 November 1976 |
| Repealing Legislation: | New Towns Act 1981 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Collapsed: | yes |
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.[20]
| Short Title: | New Towns (Scotland) Act 1977 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1977 |
| Citation: | 1977 c. 16 |
| Territorial Extent: | Scotland |
| Royal Assent: | 26 May 1977 |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/16/enacted |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
| Uk-Leg Title: | New Towns (Scotland) Act 1977 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
This act amended the Scotland act of 1968, notably to include the option to cancel a new town proposal.[21]
| Short Title: | New Towns Act 1981 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1981 |
| Citation: | 1981 c. 64 |
| Territorial Extent: | England and Wales |
| Royal Assent: | 30 October 1981 |
| Status: | amended |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/64/enacted |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
| Uk-Leg Title: | New Towns Act 1981 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
| Short Title: | New Towns and Urban Development Corporations Act 1985 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1985 |
| Citation: | 1985 c. 5 |
| Royal Assent: | 11 March 1985 |
| Status: | current |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
| Uk-Leg Title: | New Towns and Urban Development Corporations Act 1985 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
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."[22]
| Short Title: | Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990 |
| Type: | Act |
| 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. |
| Year: | 1990 |
| Citation: | 1990 c. 35 |
| Territorial Extent: | Scotland |
| Royal Assent: | 26 July 1990 |
| Status: | amended |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/35/enacted |
| Use New Uk-Leg: | yes |
| Uk-Leg Title: | Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990 |
| Collapsed: | yes |
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.[23]
| Short Title: | New Towns (Amendment) Act 1994 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to amend Schedule 9 to the New Towns Act 1981. |
| Year: | 1994 |
| Citation: | 1994 c. 5 |
| Territorial Extent: | England and Wales |
| Royal Assent: | 24 March 1994 |
| Repealing Legislation: | Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 |
| Status: | repealed |
| Original Text: | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/5/enacted |
| Collapsed: | yes |
This act establishes sub-committees of the Commission for New Towns, with authority to act on matters proper to them.[24]
See main article: New towns in the United Kingdom. The following towns were created under various New Towns Acts:
| Name | County | Year designated | Built‑uparea population | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 144,859 | Population is for Basildon and Wickford built-up area | |||
| 1961 | 107,642 | London overspill expansion, not New Towns Act | |||
| Berkshire | 1949 | 77,256 | |||
| 1970 | 313,332 | Development of Preston, Leyland and Chorley urban area, using New Towns Act powers. | |||
| 1950 | 56,810 | ||||
| 1947 | 180,508 | Existing town substantially expanded. Urban area includes Gatwick Airport and Horley | |||
| Essex | 1947 | 82,059 | |||
| Hatfield | Hertfordshire | 1948 | 41,677 | Urban area includes Colney Heath and Welham Green | |
| Hertfordshire | 1947 | 94,932 | Built-up area includes Kings Langley | ||
| 1967 | 229,941 | 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. | |||
| 1947 | 25,964 | ||||
| Northamptonshire | 1968 | 215,963 | Existing town significantly expanded | ||
| 1967 | 163,379 | Existing city substantially expanded | |||
| County Durham | 1948 | 27,871 | |||
| 1964 | 82,253 | Existing town substantially expanded | |||
| 1963 | 62,872 | ||||
| Lancashire | 1961 | 34,455 | |||
| Hertfordshire | 1946 | 90,232 | |||
| 1952 | 185,609 | Existing town substantially expanded | |||
| 1963 and 1968 | 147,980 | Existing towns substantially expanded and infilled. | |||
| Lancashire | 1968 | 165,456 | Existing town substantially expanded | ||
| Tyne and Wear | 1964 | 67,085 |
| Name | County | Year designated | Built‑uparea population | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumbernauld | 1955 | 52,270[25] | |||
| 1947 | 74,395 | ||||
| 1948 | 39,277 | ||||
| 1966 | 33,698 | Ancient Royal Burgh, substantially expanded | |||
| 1962 | 56,269 |
| Name | County | Year designated | Built‑uparea population | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 46,915 | Now part of the Newport built-up area | |||
| 1967 | 11,357 | Substantial expansion of existing town |
| Name | County | Year designated | Built‑uparea population | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 64,193[26] | 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. | |||
| 1966 | 25,353[27] | Expansion of an existing town | |||
| Antrim | 1967 | 29,467[28] | Expansion of existing town and nearby villages | ||
| 1969 | 91,602[29] | Expansion of an existing city |