Recent Government announcements and consultations, including the launch of the rebranded £39 Billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme

The UK Government has over the last couple of weeks made several significant announcements and published a number of consultations, including unveiling its landmark £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP). 

This bulletin offers a brief summary of the key announcements. Over the coming months, we will unpack the themes arising from the announcements in specific publications/Vlog items from across the firm - we have already taken a closer look at the Rent Convergence and the Decent Homes Standard Consultations, as also referred to below.

5 steps to heaven?

• In addition to the Government’s press release on the SAHP, the Government has issued a new document titled Delivering a Decade of Renewal for Social and Affordable Housing (July 2025) which outlines a comprehensive UK Government strategy to significantly expand and improve social and affordable housing delivery as well as raising standards of new and existing housing over the next ten years.
• The Government’s 10-year strategy is built around the following five-step framework, summarised below including references to the other key announcements/consultations that have been issued. 
• Readers will be aware that Government’s wider plans for housing will be set out in its Long-Term Housing Strategy, which is awaited. 

Step 1 - Historic boost to grant funding

• £39 billion SAHP will replace the existing Affordable Homes Programme
• 300,000 new homes are to be delivered over 10 years
• At least 180,000 homes (60% of SAHP) will be designated for social rent linked to local incomes – this represents and a sixfold increase in social rent homes compared to the previous decade. Prioritising Social Rent homes is intended to combat homelessness and child poverty. Amendments to the National Planning Policy Framework will be made to prioritise Social Rent in local housing assessments.
• Homes England will continue to oversee the majority of funding, but up to £11.7 billion (30% of SAHP) will be allocated to the Greater London Authority
• The new SAHP prospectus will be issued in autumn 2025 and open for bids in the winter, initially through a competitive bidding round. Bids will continue to be allowed for individual projects on an ongoing basis and/or through Strategic Partnerships, with homes completing after 2036 also being eligible.
• SAHP will not set numerical targets or ringfenced budgets for particular regions or types of home (beyond the GLA’s portion). However, Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities will be able to set strategic direction for their area
• All bids will be assessed for value for money but also based on particular circumstances, accounting for the fact that some homes built by local councils, supported housing, community-led and rural homes cost more to deliver
• SAHP will also be available to support some regeneration schemes where that provides a net increase in homes on a site, as well as allowing a ‘limited number’ of acquisitions of existing housing stock

Step 2 - Rebuilding sector’s financial capacity 

• An acknowledgement by Government that the financial capacity of housing associations and councils has weakened in the last decade because of building safety requirements, rising repairs costs and interest rates, and rent cuts imposed by the previous administration 
• Rent Policy Reform is seen as a way of rebuilding financial capacity in the sector, including:
  • 10-year rent settlement allowing annual increases of CPI + 1% from April 2026 to support reinvestment; and the
  • the newly issued Consultation on rent convergence (capped at £1–£2/week) and to be finalised by the time of the Autumn Budget – do read our article on this if you have not done so already, Rent Convergence
• Building Safety Investment - £1 billion allocated for cladding remediation (2026–2030), ensuring parity with private sector access to funding
• Low-Interest Loans - £2.5 billion in loans to support housing development, complementing existing funding streams (including SAHP and the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme)

Step 3 - Regulatory Modernisation

• Priority is to be given for Safety and Repairs of all social and affordable housing
• There is a newly issued Consultation on a reformed decent homes standard for social and privately rented homes to reflect modern tenant needs and ageing housing stock – we have also published an article on this aspect, Rent Convergence
• Other aspects of this Step include: 
  • the phased implementation of Awaab’s Law mandating rapid hazard remediation
  • Mandatory electrical safety checks every five years
  • A new consultation on the proposals to implement Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards within the social rented sector (MEES), targeting EPC Band C compliance by 2030
  • Tenant Rights and Transparency, including new standards for professionalisation of housing staff (effective October 2026), enhanced access to information for tenants and freedom of information rights for Tenant Management Organisations
• Launch of a £1 million Resident Experience Innovation Fund to deliver better outcomes for social tenants
• Focus on use of allocations policies in respect of social homes and those in greatest need and also targeting rogue providers of supported housing 

Step 4 - Reinvigorating Council Housebuilding

• Councils currently deliver approximately 8,000 new affordable homes every year, on average, with less than 40% of council homes sold off under the Right to Buy since 2012 being replaced
• Right to Buy Reforms to protect council housing stock, including:
  • Increasing the length of time someone needs to have been a public sector tenant to qualify for the Right to Buy from three to 10 years 
  • reforming discounts to start at 5% of the property value, rising by 1% for every (extra) year an individual is a secure tenant, up to a maximum of (the lower of) 15% of property value or the cash discount cap 
  • Exempting new social homes from the Right to Buy for 35 years (to ensure that councils recover the costs of building the homes before they are disposed of through the RTB)
• Councils will be permitted to combine Right to Buy receipts with grant funding.
• Borrowing and HRA Reforms - there will be a Review of Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) rates and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) thresholds.
• Support will be provided for alternative delivery models including Local Housing Companies.
• Skills and Capacity Building – a new £12 million Council Housebuilding Skills & Capacity Programme (CHSCP) to upskill local authority staff.

Step 5 - Sector-Wide Partnership for Delivery

• Effectively this Step amounts to a ‘call to Action’ for all parties including local authorities, housing associations, investors, developers and housebuilders, regulators and central Government urging collaboration across the sector to deliver homes at scale.

Next steps

Taken together the announcements clearly represent a significant shift in housing policy, with implications for Registered Providers and all those involved in the delivery of and investment in new affordable housing and looking after existing housing stock – but these matters will also impact those involved in other areas, such as planning and housing priorities, funding and finance, governance and regulatory compliance.

Please contact us if you want to discuss how any of the matters referred to in this Bulletin will affect your organisation, including:

• engaging with the upcoming SAHP prospectus (or making representations to relevant parties prior to its publication) and more widely engaging with Homes England and the GLA for funding opportunities
• Participating in the consultations on DHS, MEES, and rent convergence
• Preparing for legislative changes affecting Right to Buy and regulatory standards.