- Flagship New Homes Accelerator expands to smaller sites after cutting through delays for over 125,000 homes
- Seven new sites taken on across East Midlands, South East and East of England including OxCam areas – plus a new London-focused service to get the capital building
- Part of government drive to build 1.5 million homes and boost economic growth across the country
Over 125,000 new homes will be built faster thanks to the government’s intervention programme to kickstart housebuilding on sites facing delays – which is set to expand today (Thursday 29 January).
The Housing Secretary is calling on developers, landowners, and councils to come forward with further sites that need government support through the New Homes Accelerator to get moving.
For the first time support will be extended to smaller sites of under 500 homes – with a sharp focus on getting homes built this Parliament and ramping up housebuilding in London.
Now in its second phase, the Accelerator has brought in planning experts to assist with sites across the country, whilst also working closely with statutory consultees and other government departments on specific issues impacting sites in the programme. Combined, this has helped progress over 48,500 homes.
Through these system-wide reforms, including working with other government departments and arms-length bodies on statutory consultee processes, key infrastructure delivery of schools and GP facilities, and energy solutions, the Accelerator has helped to unlock issues at a further 76,500 homes.
Seven more sites are joining the programme, adding over 11,400 homes across priority growth areas, including several in the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor. Sites include
- Land West of Howes Lane, North West Bicester
- Himley Village, North West Bicester
- Hawkwell Village, North West Bicester
- Wretchwick Green, South East Bicester
- Stewartby Brickworks, Bedfordshire
Building on the biggest planning shake-up in over a decade, the Accelerator is going further tackle the housing crisis, build 1.5 million homes, and help thousands more families and young people achieve the dream of home ownership.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed said
“The number of families and young people locked out of the dream of home ownership is unacceptable so we are doing everything we can to make that dream come true.
“We’re stripping away the barriers blocking new homes being built and our New Homes Accelerator means 125,000 will now go ahead. But we’re just getting started.
“This next phase will see spades in the ground even faster as we build the 1.5 million homes this country needs.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said
“The New Homes Accelerator is our growth mission in action – removing obstacles, restoring confidence and turning stalled plans into real investment on the ground – from pioneering sites in Oxford to the Cambridge Growth Corridor to new developments in the Northern Growth Corridor.
“This programme supports jobs across the country and helps more people find a secure, good‑quality home – building an economy that works for working people.”
As part of Phase 2, operations will be expanded in London through the launch of ‘NHA LDN’ and a new planning support service for boroughs, ‘ATLAS LDN’, which will both be led by the Greater London Authority (GLA) on behalf of the Mayor of London.
This second phase of the programme is ensuring that developers, housing associations, and boroughs have access to coordinated government-backed support designed to overcome some of the biggest barriers to delivery – from planning and infrastructure delays to regulatory challenges.
The GLA will bring together developers, London boroughs and the wider GLA family – including Transport for London – to get sites moving. Three stalled housing sites in London are already being supported by the NHA programme to help accelerate the delivery of hundreds of high-quality homes. It will also provide planning support to local planning authorities through its ATLAS LDN service, a new independent service offering independent expert planning support, boosting local capacity and providing independent review where needed.
Working alongside government and Homes England, these services will target London sites facing significant delays – with the aim of delivering new homes by the end of this parliament.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said
“I welcome phase two of the Government’s New Homes Accelerator Programme. Working with Government, Homes England and councils, City Hall is helping to unblock sites and accelerate the delivery of thousands of new homes for Londoners.
“This programme will get homes built faster and supports our urgent action to tackle London’s housing crisis as we build a better, fairer London for everyone.”
Also launching today is a new year-round portal that will make it easier for builders, councils, and landowners to flag sites – whether stuck in planning or simply not moving fast enough.
In addition, following the success of the New Homes Accelerator since its launch in 2024, seven new sites across the East Midlands, East of England and South East are joining the programme – adding nearly 60,000 homes to the pipeline. The Accelerator’s expert team will tackle specific blockers at sites including Rectory Farm in Lincolnshire and AGT-2 site in Aylesbury – together providing over 2,000 homes.
At a separate site in Aylesbury, Hampden Fields, the Accelerator is helping to speed up the delivery of 3,000 homes through close collaboration with Taylor Wimpey, the Environment Agency, and Buckinghamshire Council. In the past four months the Accelerator has worked together with the Environment Agency to make significant, timely progress, ensuring vital Flood Risk Activity Permits are in place to progress development at the site.
Since August 2025, around 13,500 additional homes have been accelerated thanks to improvements delivered with partners including the Building Safety Regulator, Natural England, the Environment Agency, Network Rail, and National Highways.
Chief Executive of Homes England, Amy Rees CB said
“As the government expands the NHA, we continue to provide our expertise and resources, working hard with partners across the country to accelerate key sites with the potential to deliver thousands of new homes for people throughout England.
“Collaboration is central to what we do, and we encourage both new and longstanding delivery partners to work with us to unlock further sites, as together we support the government’s ambition to deliver 1.5 million homes during this parliament.”
Further information
The New Homes Accelerator, a flagship programme established in 2024 to get spades in the ground more quickly by cutting through barriers to rapid development, has already intervened through targeted support and addressing systemic barriers, including providing local areas with additional planning capacity and removing regulatory hurdles, to help speed up building on over 125,000 new homes across England that were not building out as fast as they should have.
The New Homes Accelerator is working across government to engage with arms-length bodies and other departments to streamline the delivery of housing and infrastructure, ensuring progress through the planning process, which has already helped to remove blockages in the system.
As part of Phase 2, we are also expanding operations in London by launching ‘NHA LDN’ and a new planning service supporting London boroughs ‘ATLAS LDN’, both to be led by the Greater London Authority (GLA) on behalf of the Mayor of London.
These new services will help to accelerate the delivery of London sites which are facing significant delays or obstacles to progression, but if supported could deliver homes by the end of this parliament. The services will operate in collaboration with national NHA, with MHCLG, Homes England and the GLA team working closely together.
New sites set to benefit from the latest New Homes Accelerator support include
- At Rectory Farm in Lincolnshire – c.848 homes (19% affordable housing)
- At AGT-2 Site in Aylesbury – c.1,400 homes
- At Stewartby Brickworks in Bedfordshire – 1,000 homes
- At Land West of Howes Lane, North West Bicester – Part of 6,700 total for NW Bicester batch of sites
- At Land at Howes Lane (also known as Himley Village), North West Bicester – Part of 6,700 total for NW Bicester batch of sites
- At Hawkwell Village, North West Bicester – Part of c.6,700 total for NW Bicester batch of sites
- At Wretchwick Green, South East Bicester – c.1,500 homes
The government is working closely with statutory consultees to unblock systemic issues to accelerate development, including infrastructure delivery, utilities provision and environmental factors.