NORTHSTOWE, United Kingdom, Sept 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The UK's newest town Northstowe is gradually taking shape amid cranes and scaffolding, a possible blueprint for others as the government seeks to tackle a desperate housing shortage.

So far the town, which lies close to the affluent eastern city of Cambridge, has just 3,000 or so residents and next to no amenities.

But planners project that within the next two decades its population could swell to 30,000 people.

"I'm really excited about the future," said Jason Benedicic, who moved with his partner and young child to the town in 2020 because it offered more affordable space than the nearby historic university city.

"There is an amazing community, the people really make the place special," he said, adding there were regular events which brought everyone together as well as "great transport links" and "open spaces".

Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected in July last year, has pledged to build 1.5 million houses by 2029, as he tries to solve a chronic shortage of homes.

Most will be built by expanding existing urban developments, but the British leader has also vowed to start work on the UK's "next generation" of new towns.

The idea harks back to the late prime minister Clement Attlee's reforming Labour government of 1945-1951, which famously set up the National Health Service and welfare state.

Its new town project paved the way for the construction in the 1960s of arguably Britain's most famous new town -- the oft-derided Milton Keynes, just north of London.

When Milton Keynes -- now a city of more than 250,000 residents -- was built, car was king and the future of shopping was thought to be inside vast malls.

Now urban designers are more conscious about biodiversity and the battle against global warming, while buyers tend to prefer market towns, noted Katja Stille, of Northstowe planner Tibbalds.

"The world is very different from that time," she told AFP.

With its green spaces, cycle lanes, lakes and transport links, Northstowe, 12 miles (19 kilometres) northwest of Cambridge, calls itself a "healthy" new town with a "low-carbon community".

The site, on what used to be Royal Air Force barracks, welcomed its first residents in 2017 and some 1,600 homes are now occupied.

Once complete, the town will have 10,000 houses and eight schools.

It currently has no shops or doctor's surgery, but officials have announced plans for a "vibrant town centre" on what is currently a field and a health facility.

"It would be nice to have a barber", said Benedicic, an IT consultant who became Northstowe's mayor earlier this year.

Stephen Brewer runs the town's only premise with a liquor license -- the Tap and Social cafe and bar which opened in April 2024.

- 'Beautiful communities' -

The 68-year-old feels "proud" to be one of the new community's pioneers but looks forward to the day his business has some competition.

"We're not fearful of that," he told AFP.

Britain has been gripped by a national housing crisis for several years, with supply failing to keep up with demand as people live longer and immigration soars.

With housing prices skyrocketing, home ownership is out of reach for many young people.

The charity Shelter England has estimated around 354,000 people are homeless across the country.

Starmer wants to deliver 300,000 homes a year during this parliament -- well above what has been achieved in recent years.

He has set about overhauling planning laws to make it easier for developers to override environmental regulations.

But there are questions over the availability of land, building materials, and workers with the necessary skills.

"It is an exciting but ambitious target and challenge," Tim Wray, group development director at Keepmoat, which is building 300 houses in Northstowe, told AFP.

A government task force is considering more than 100 sites across England for the next new towns, which could host 10,000 homes each. It is due to announce the locations this summer.

They will be "well-designed, beautiful communities with affordable housing, GP (doctor's) surgeries, schools and public transport," the government has promised.