Recommendation 111

Government commitment is needed to give confidence to interested parties at all stages in the building process. For example, suppliers of building materials will need to be sure that the Government is committed to projects of this scale before they make the capital investment necessary to increase output. 178 Likewise, housebuilding firms will only seek involvement in new towns if they can expect the Government to follow-through and permit the construction of large, cohesive settlements, with links to transport and infrastructure, which will give them an acceptable return on investment. 179