00:00We know the government's got an ambitious milestone to build up 1.5 million new homes
00:04as part of its plan for change, and as part of that plan we want to bring forward the
00:07next generation of new towns.
00:09We set up an independent taskforce last year to examine how these new towns could be brought
00:14forward, how they'd be funded and where they should be.
00:17That taskforce has made progress, it's reporting on that progress, as you say we've had 100
00:21expressions of interest from all parts of the country.
00:23The taskforce will issue its final report in the summer and at that point ministers
00:26will have a series of recommendations and we'll be able to choose the final locations
00:30for these large-scale new communities.
00:31But we're taking action in the short term, that's why we've announced three additional
00:35sites as part of our new homes accelerator programme.
00:37That's an initiative to get large sites across the country which are stalled or are building
00:41out slowly going.
00:42We've already, through our seven sites as part of that programme, made progress on sites
00:47that total nearly 30,000 homes.
00:49We've released another 10,000 through just getting statutory consultees and other partners
00:53involved.
00:54And we've got to go further and faster.
00:55As I say, we've added three sites today as part of that process, so short-term action
01:00on unblocking these large sites, but the new towns programme will make a transformational
01:04difference in the years to come.
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