Contractor Accommodation in the UK's 12 New Towns (2026)

Why the new towns programme matters for accommodation

The New Towns Taskforce, chaired by Sir Michael Lyons, reported to government on 28 September 2025 with 44 recommendations and a shortlist of 12 recommended locations. Each new town is expected to deliver at least 10,000 homes, with a minimum of 40% affordable housing — half of that for social rent. Several sites are far larger than that floor.

Sites of this size are multi-year, multi-phase programmes. They draw in groundworkers, bricklayers, electricians, plumbers, scaffolders, civils crews and infrastructure specialists — often from outside the immediate region, because no single local labour pool can staff a town. Against a well-documented UK construction skills shortage, contractors travel to where the work is, and travelling workers need accommodation near site for weeks or months at a time.

Important caveat: these are recommended, not yet confirmed, locations. The government has begun a Strategic Environmental Assessment and further consultation before final decisions, so timelines will vary site by site. But the direction of travel is clear, and the accommodation question lands long before the first home is finished — it starts with enabling works, site setup and infrastructure.

The 12 recommended new town locations

The Taskforce grouped its recommendations across standalone new settlements, urban densification and expansions of existing places. The 12 shortlisted locations are:

• Adlington, Cheshire East — a standalone new settlement
• Brabazon & the West Innovation Arc, South Gloucestershire — a connected development corridor
• Crews Hill & Chase Park, Enfield (North London) — green-belt-edge expansion
• Heyford Park, Cherwell (Oxfordshire) — redevelopment of a former RAF airbase
• Leeds South Bank — large-scale urban regeneration
• Manchester Victoria North — inner-city densification
• Marlcombe, East Devon — a standalone settlement
• Milton Keynes — a renewed and expanded town centre
• Plymouth — densified urban development
• Tempsford, Central Bedfordshire — a major new settlement near the East West Rail line
• Thamesmead, Greenwich (South East London) — a new riverside settlement
• Worcestershire Parkway, Wychavon — expansion around the rail interchange

The three sites moving fastest

The government singled out Tempsford, Crews Hill and Leeds South Bank as particularly promising for unlocking growth and accelerating delivery — which makes them the places where contractor demand is likely to build first.

Tempsford in Central Bedfordshire sits on the East West Rail corridor between Oxford and Cambridge, with the potential to grow into one of the largest of the new settlements — a near-greenfield build that will need crews housed across Bedfordshire and into Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon. Crews Hill in Enfield is a London-edge site where local hotel and rental supply is already tight and expensive, pushing travelling trades toward whole-house and per-head lets in the surrounding boroughs and into Hertfordshire. Leeds South Bank is an urban regeneration programme in a city with an established contractor-accommodation market, but one where a sustained pipeline of work will keep beds in demand.

Why accommodation gets tight near a big build site

When a major project ramps up, the local bed stock fills fast. Hotels near site raise rates and sell out midweek as they fill with workers; long commutes eat into already long working days; and standard holiday lets are rarely set up for a six-person crew with vans.

That mismatch is exactly why purpose-suited contractor accommodation — whole houses and per-person rooms with the right practical extras — tends to win out near large schemes:

• A short, reliable drive to site so crews aren't losing two hours a day to traffic.
• Off-road parking for vans, pickups and tool trailers.
• A full kitchen and on-site laundry to cut the cost of eating out and washing kit.
• Weekly and monthly all-inclusive terms that flex with the project, not a 12-month tenancy.
• Enough bedrooms to keep a crew together rather than scattered across separate hotels.

For hosts near a new town site: a multi-year opportunity

If you own or manage property within commuting distance of one of the shortlisted locations, the new towns programme points to years of recurring demand — not a one-off booking. Enabling works, infrastructure and early phases come first, then the homes themselves, so the labour need is sustained rather than seasonal.

Contractor lets also tend to suit hosts well: longer bookings mean fewer changeovers, midweek occupancy that holiday lets struggle to fill, and tenants who are out on site all day. Note that the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime ended on 6 April 2025, so the old FHL advantages no longer apply — treat letting income under the standard property rules and take your own tax advice. The practical setup that wins this work is straightforward: parking, a usable kitchen, reliable Wi-Fi, enough beds, and clear weekly pricing.

How to line up accommodation near a new town

Rather than ringing round hotels or scrolling listings that aren't built for crews, you can let hosts compete. On a reverse-marketplace you post the job once — headcount, dates, a target budget and the nearest town or postcode to site — and verified hosts in the area send their best offers. You compare on price, distance to site, parking and amenities, then book the ones that fit, with no guest fees and no markup.

Because the new towns are multi-phase, it's worth building a relationship with hosts near site early: repeat work in the same area often earns better rates from hosts who want the recurring booking. Hosts near the shortlisted locations can do the reverse — list availability and respond to enquiries from contractors heading their way.