Planning & Development Insite

The new towns programme is right to look again at the Oxford Cambridge Growth Corridor, but delivery will depend on whether land, funding and demand can be aligned.

Andy Burnham has made devolution a higher priority than ever before. Success will depend on whether regional ambition can be turned into deliverable sites, infrastructure and investment across the country.

The new leadership has renewed the housing promise. The next task is to make the delivery system work.

The profession needs more planners; it also needs to make better use of the tools that can give planners back the time to plan.

While the planning reforms introduced by the current government may increase the number of planning consents, they will not unlock land supply unless those sites can be priced, funded and structured in a way that reflects today’s market.

One year after the Secretary of State’s call to the industry to act on policy change, the data suggests policy reform has outpaced delivery.

Carter Jonas’ development team survey suggests residential land transactions are being reshaped by risk allocation, pricing discipline and viability testing.

UKREiiF showed that planning reform matters, but the market is now testing every project against viability, funding, phasing, and demand.

In March 2026, Planning and Development InSite interviewed 25 team members of the Carter Jonas Planning Team to determine how the government’s progress to date is perceived.

The opportunity for new towns to help in meeting the demand for new homes has returned to the centre of housing policy and is beginning to move from concept to programme detail.

Planning and Development InSite discussed this with David Churchill, Parter in the Carter Jonas London Planning team.

In March 2026 we surveyed 25 Carter Jonas planning consultants across five offices (London, Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds and Manchester) about residential plan-making and the return of mandatory housing targets. The aim was to test how policy direction is being experienced in practice; not as a political argument but in terms of delivery.

Today, perhaps more than ever, every pound is counted twice.

Restoring historic buildings is a development challenge worth embracing, as Carter Jonas client Jennifer Freeman, of Freeman Historic Properties tells Planning & Development InSite.

Following the government’s confirmation of twelve new towns, Francis Truss, Partner at Carter Jonas, explores how strategic finance and delivery structures will determine whether these ambitious developments succeed.

There are several key issues within the new build sector which will help shape its commercial viability and capacity over the coming short and long term.

The ultimate aim of any football club is to become an established Premier League team. Whilst footballing skills, strategy and effective management are the key ingredients of success, planning too can have a role to play, as Niamh Piercy, Associate Partner in Carter Jonas’ London office, explains.

Cambridge is a city that defies simple categorisation. It is both ancient and futuristic, local at heart but global in influence. For centuries, its university has drawn the brightest minds from across the world; more recently, its tech and life sciences sectors have made it a magnet for global capital.

With the recently published Industrial Strategy and focused sector plans bolstering regional economic development, we at Carter Jonas are more confident than ever of our potential to help international businesses land and expand in the ideal locations.

The New Towns Taskforce: Report to government has now recommended the locations for 12 new towns. David Churchill, Partner at Carter Jonas, explores how history offers a clear guide to getting it right this time.