Developer boss joins new towns taskforce

The boss of Grainger Plc has attended the first meeting of a new taskforce which aims to push ahead with the Government’s vision for new towns.

Helen Gordon, who is chief executive at Grainger, is among eight industry experts from across planning, infrastructure delivery, architecture and urban regeneration, who are part of the New Towns Taskforce.

Headed by Sir Michael Lyons, the aim of the taskforce is to recommend locations for new towns, creating largescale communities that could deliver hundreds of thousands of high-quality homes to tackle the national housing crisis.

Grainger is the UK’s largest publicly listed residential landlord and build-to-rent developer.

It is the company behind Derby’s first ever build-to-rent apartments scheme, The Condor, which is in the city centre.

Last year, Helen was a keynote speaker at Marketing Derby’s London Embassy.

Sir Michael said: “We have an important agenda to work through over the next 12 months to ensure that the next generation of new towns deliver the Government’s plans for economic growth and housing ambitions.

“I look forward to working with our very experienced taskforce members to provide the Government with robust recommendations within a year.”