Ebbsfleet Development Corporation

The corporation was established as part of an initiative by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, in April 2015 during the Cameron–Clegg coalition.{{cite web |title=Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (Area and Constitution) Order 2015 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/747/made |website=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=29 September 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/31/can-new-towns-give-keir-starmer-the-answer-to-britains-housing-crisis|title=Can new towns give Keir Starmer the answer to Britain’s housing crisis?|date=1 September 2024|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=16 January 2025}} As with the development corporations formed in the 1980s, board members are directly appointed by the minister and can override local authority planning controls to spend government money on infrastructure.{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://ebbsfleetdc.org.uk/about-us/ |website=Ebbsfleet Development Corporation |access-date=29 September 2021}}{{cite web |title=FAQs |url=https://ebbsfleetdc.org.uk/about-us/faqs/ |website=Ebbsfleet Development Corporation |access-date=29 September 2021}}

Its flagship developments include a development known as Ebbsfleet Central which is to be the commercial centre of Ebbsfleet Garden City.{{cite news|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/gravesend/news/blueprint-for-new-city-centre-around-international-railway-309898/|title=Plans approved for new ‘civic heart’ around Ebbsfleet International railway station – including new GP, business and school facilities|date=17 July 2024|newspaper=Kent Online| access-date=16 February 2025}} As with earlier garden cities, Ebbsfleet intends to deploy the design concepts developed by the Garden city movement, which involve affordable housing, plentiful green space and low-carbon transport.{{cite news|url=https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1391969/challenges-facing-ebbsfleet-garden-city-project|title=The challenges facing the Ebbsfleet garden city project|date=22 April 2016|newspaper=Planning Resource|access-date=16 January 2025}}

The corporation was given a target to persuade housebuilders to deliver 15,000 houses in the designated area.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26600689|title=15,000-home garden city to be built at Ebbsfleet|date=16 March 2014|newspaper=BBC News| access-date=16 February 2025}} As of March 2020, the corporation had invested £100 million on infrastructure to support the development, but housebuilders had only delivered 2,000 houses in the area.{{cite news|url=https://www.building.co.uk/focus/pastures-new-from-ebenezer-to-ebbsfleet/5104586.article|title=Pastures new: From Ebenezer to Ebbsfleet|date=23 March 2020|newspaper=Building|access-date=16 January 2025}} In February 2024, the corporation reported that housebuilders had delivered 4,000 houses in the area,{{cite news|url=https://www.timeout.com/uk/news/britains-newest-garden-city-is-about-to-get-much-bigger-072624|title=Britain's newest 'garden city' is about to get much bigger|date=26 July 2024|newspaper=Time Out|access-date=16 January 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cbre.co.uk/insights/articles/politics-of-renewal-labours-vision-for-new-towns|title=Politics of renewal: Labour's vision for 'new towns'|date=27 June 2024|newspaper=CBRE| access-date=16 January 2025}} and, in February 2025, it was reported that almost 5,000 houses had been completed.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/15/colony-endangered-spiders-halts-governments-plans-new-homes/|title=Blow to Reeves as endangered spiders halt plans for 1,300 new homes|date=15 February 2025|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=16 February 2025}}

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{{Communities and Local Government}}

Category:Development Corporations of the United Kingdom

Category:Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government

Category:Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government