![\"Plans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SEI_274667742-da7b.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe UK could be getting a brand-new city \u2013 to the tune of \u00a3100 billion (Picture: Intergenerational Foundation)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tThe UK could be getting a brand-new city \u2013 to the tune of \u00a3100 billion (Picture: Intergenerational Foundation)<\/p>\n
Towering skyscrapers made not of glass, but of wood; 12 acres of newly planted forest, and four-bedroom family homes for \u00a3350,000.<\/p>\n
These are just some of the features in the planner for a brand-new city which touts itself as a solution to the housing crisis.<\/a> <\/p>\n The name? Forest City 1. It\u2019s not exactly catching, but it does what it says on the tin, considering that it\u2019ll be right in the depths of nature.<\/p>\n It\u2019s currently still in the planning stage, but if the blueprints were to be approved, it could end up being a similar size to Bristol \u2013 but with more than twice the number of residents.<\/p>\n At the moment, the West Country hub is currently home to approximately 494,400 <\/a>people \u2013 but if it were to come to fruition, the tentative Forest City could end up housing around 1 million renters <\/a>and homeowners<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the plans were successful, Forest City would end up being the first new one to be built in the UK for more than 50 years \u2013 the last one being Milton Keynes<\/a>, which was finished in 1967 and has since jokingly been likened to \u2018Satan\u2019s Layby<\/a>,\u2019 because, well, it\u2019s not exactly the most exciting place. Sorry.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t\t\tReady to start your homebuying journey?\t\t\t<\/p>\n You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London & Country (L&C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from:<\/p>\n \u2013 Award winning service from the UK\u2019s leading mortgage broker<\/p>\n \u2013 Expert advisors on hand 7 days a week<\/p>\n \u2013 Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market<\/p>\n Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&C won\u2019t charge you a fee for their advice.<\/p>\n Find out how much you could borrow online<\/a><\/p>\n Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.<\/p>\n Where is the new city being built?<\/p>\n While we don\u2019t yet have the exact details on where Forest City will be built, we do know that it\u2019s roughly planned for land just east of Cambridge<\/a>, between Newmarket and Haverhill in Suffolk<\/a>.<\/p>\n Given its idyllic location, close to Cambridge and not far from London<\/a>, the plans are focusing on providing a public transport system that actually \u2018works,\u2019 with regular trains to both cities and buses that run four times an hour \u2013 or every 15 minutes.<\/p>\n \t\t The plans say that Forest City won\u2019t just be \u2018another housing estate,\u2019 but a \u2018real city.\u2019 But what does that look like? There\u2019ll be:<\/p>\n Walkable neighbourhoods<\/p>\n Visually appealing architecture<\/p>\n 12,000 acres of newly planted forestry<\/p>\n New infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, transport and parks.<\/p>\n Why is the UK building a new city?<\/p>\n The company behind Forest City \u2013 Albion City Development Corporation \u2013 is aiming to build a new city to help alleviate the housing crisis. <\/p>\n However, it remains to be seen whether this solution will touch the sides of the issues Britons are facing, whether that\u2019s accessing an affordable mortgage <\/a>or renting from a landlord <\/a>that\u2019ll charge them a fair rate.<\/p>\n Dame Patricia Hewitt, who was the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry under Tony Blair<\/a>, says of the scheme\u2019s proposals: \u2018Building a new city may seem outrageously audacious, but it\u2019s part of what will make national renewal real.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018And if it\u2019s done with genuine partnership and a focus on people and place, it could transform the opportunities for today\u2019s and tomorrow\u2019s new generations.\u2019<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Professor Tim Leunig, a former advisor to two chancellors and three housing secretaries, who has also backed the proposals, notes: \u2018The UK needs far more houses. They need to be in the right places\u2026the area around Cambridge is such a place.<\/p>\n \u2018Using a community land trust means that build-out rates can be rapid \u2013 exactly as they were in the UK in the Industrial Revolution.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tThe UK is in the depths of a housing crisis – but will this solution help at all?\t\t\t<\/p>\n With the cost of the average property<\/a> skyrocketing out of the grasp of affordability, many young people have found themselves locked out of homeownership.<\/p>\n For those without the help of generational wealth, it\u2019s a lifetime membership to Generation Rent instead. In\u00a0London<\/a>\u00a0alone,\u00a030.1% of properties<\/a>\u00a0are now comprised of\u00a0private rentals<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the highest percentage since 1971.<\/p>\n Those struggling to afford private rents don\u2019t always have the option of accessing council housing, either, as the UK\u2019s council housing stock has slowly been depleting over the last 70 years.<\/p>\n In 2024, a study from\u00a0Shelter\u00a0<\/a>found that while more than 200,000 social rent homes were built in England in the mid-1950s, by 2023 to 2024, the number of homes built had declined to just 10,000.<\/p>\n Existing housing stock has also been sold off through the controversial Right To Buy policy, which allows council tenants to buy their own homes at a discounted rate.<\/p>\n Initially introduced in 1980 by Thatcher\u2019s government, the policy is still in place across England, and while it\u2019s allowed many a coveted spot on the property ladder, it also meant that more and more council houses have slowly been transferred into private hands.<\/p>\n Statistics from the\u00a0New Economics Foundation\u00a0<\/a>(NEF) found that more than four in 10 council homes sold under Right To Buy are now owned by private landlords. So yes, it\u2019s safe to say that there\u2019s a housing crisis.<\/p>\n How much will it cost and when will it open?<\/p>\n The new project \u2013 which will cost a mind-boggling \u00a3100 billion in total. It\u2019s expected to include four-bedroom homes costing \u00a3340,000 \u2013 much cheaper than most four-beds in neighbouring Cambridge, but still more expensive than the current average UK home, which is worth \u00a3270,000, according to Zoopla\u2019s latest House Price Index<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t Details on when the project will open are also relatively flimsy, considering that the plans haven\u2019t yet been approved, and are currently in phase one of five \u2013 AKA, proving public demand by asking people to sign a petition<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tAre there plans for other ‘new towns’?\t\t\t<\/p>\n The 1946 New Towns Act laid the foundations for the likes of Stevenage, Crawley, Corby, and Harlow to be built \u2013 and later on, Milton Keynes and Peterborough.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no secret that under Sir Keir Starmer<\/a>, Labour<\/a> has backed the development of several new towns.<\/p>\n At the last party conference in September, housing secretary Steve Reed announced that work would begin on the construction of 12 locations before the next general election, highlighting three key areas that could prove \u2018promising\u2019: Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Crews Hill in North London, and South Bank in Leeds.<\/p>\n Do you have a story to share?<\/p>\n Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Plans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SEI_274667819-1a3a.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe plans also focus on a public transport system that \u2018works\u2019 (Picture: Intergenerational Foundation)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SEI_274668650-b17e.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe city will be built on land east of Cambridge (Picture: Metro)
\nWhat will the new city be like?<\/p>\n![\"Plans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SEI_274667716-8add.jpg\")
\n\t\tThere\u2019ll be walkable neighbourhoods galore (Picture: Intergenerational Foundation)<\/p>\n![\"Plans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SEI_274667830-fcf9.jpg\")
\n\t\tA four-bedroom family home will cost \u00a3340,000 (Picture: Intergenerational Foundation)<\/p>\n
\nMORE: This is exactly how much it costs to move house in 2025 \u2014 and it\u2019s bleak<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: \u2018Once-in-century\u2019 plan to upgrade area near major London station with 2,500 new homes<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: From sidings to suburbs: The railway lines where 40,000 new homes could be built<\/a><\/p>\n