TCPA updates finance and delivery vehicles guide as government proposes seven new towns

The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) has published updated guidance on how councils can structure and fund new towns and large urban extensions, the first of its garden city practical guides to be updated.

Finance and Delivery Vehicles for New Communities is aimed at local authority officers and elected members weighing up a new town, urban extension or other large-scale housing and regeneration project, the TCPA said.

The guide sets out options including development corporations and other local delivery vehicles, and covers funding, finance and investment routes including the National Housing Bank and the National Wealth Fund. It was supported by Hyas Associates, AtkinsRéalis and the Lady Margaret Paterson Osborn Trust.

Katy Lock, Chief Executive of the TCPA, said: "History has shown that proactive public-sector land assembly, strong development standards and delivery organisations with sufficient control of land are essential for successful delivery at this scale."

What the guide covers

The web-based guidance, which the TCPA says it intends to keep adding to as a live resource, includes four case studies illustrating different delivery models: Ebbsfleet, delivered through an urban development corporation; Cranbrook, led by a local authority; Wichelstowe, a public private joint venture; and Waverley, led by a master developer.

The TCPA said the guide explains how different funding and delivery arrangements can harness place-based investment to enable and de-risk development. It identifies specific opportunities for larger sites, such as new towns of 10,000 homes or more, and treats the use of development value to fund delivery and long-term stewardship as fundamental to the Garden City Principles.

Dr Deb Upadhyaya, Director of Placemaking and New Communities at AtkinsRéalis, said: "The delivery of new communities at scale brings complex challenges around planning, design, investment, infrastructure and partnerships."

The policy backdrop

The guidance arrives as central government is preparing a new generation of large settlements. On 22 March 2026 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government proposed seven new towns: Tempsford, Crews Hill and Chase Park, Leeds South Bank, Manchester Victoria North, Thamesmead, Brabazon and the West Innovation Arc, and Milton Keynes.

According to the government, each proposed location is expected to deliver at least 10,000 homes, and some new development corporations will be stood up to support delivery. A public consultation on the locations and draft planning policy ran until 18 May 2026, with final locations to be confirmed later in the year.

One of the funding institutions the guide points to is also new. The National Housing Bank, a subsidiary of Homes England, launched on 1 April 2026 to deploy up to £16bn of debt, equity and guarantees, according to Homes England.

The launch

The TCPA launched the guide at an online webinar on 15 October. Its agenda for the event listed Lachlan Anderson-Frank, Project and Policy Manager at the TCPA, to present the updated guidance, and Fionnuala Lennon, Head of Garden Communities at Homes England, as a speaker.

The agenda also listed a case study from AtkinsRéalis and Hyas Associates on preparing an options assessment for the St Cuthberts Garden Village delivery vehicle.

The TCPA describes the publication as the relaunch of its updated suite of practical guidance for delivering new garden cities. Guide 1 in the series, Locating and Consenting New Garden Cities, dates from November 2017, and the most recent guide before this update was Guide 14, on building climate resilient large-scale new communities, from November 2021.

The TCPA, founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in 1899, says it founded the first garden cities at Letchworth and Welwyn and helped shape the post-war New Towns programme.

What happens next

The association has invited organisations to partner with it on updating the other guides in the series, with enquiries directed to Anderson-Frank. The web guidance page records that it was last updated in October 2026.