The government has set out plans for its £39billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, which will aim to deliver 300,000 new homes.
The successor to the current Affordable Homes Programme, the SAHP will run for 10 years and look to deliver 60% of the new homes for social rent, equating to 180,000 homes and six times more than in the decade up to 2024
The government is also launching a new long-term plan, ‘Delivering a Decade of Renewal for Social and Affordable Housing’, to set out how it will deliver the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation, alongside driving up the safety and quality of homes.
It will also make updates to the Decent Homes Standard, which will be extended to privately rented homes for the first time, while Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards will be implemented for the first time in the social housing sector.
Further measures set out in the plan include changes to Right to Buy with the aim of protecting council housing stock as well as plans to unlock investment in new and existing social housing.
Deputy prime minister and housing secretary, Angela Rayner, said: “We are seizing this golden opportunity with both hands to transform this country by building the social and affordable homes we need, so we create a brighter future where families aren’t trapped in temporary accommodation and young people are no longer locked out of a secure home.”
“With investment and reform, this government is delivering the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation, unleashing a social rent revolution, and embarking on a decade of renewal for social and affordable housing in this country.”
“That’s why I am urging everyone in the social housing sector to step forward with us now to make this vision a reality, to work together to turn the tide on the housing crisis together and deliver the homes and living standards people deserve through our Plan for Change.”
Recent data shows that, as a result of the housing crisis, over 165,000 children are currently in temporary accommodation in the UK.
The government says that the five steps of its new plan build on work already undertaken to bring stability to the sector, while also publicly signalling to developers, councils, investors and to the public the government’s ambition for social and affordable housing.
The five steps of the plan are to:
- Deliver the biggest boost to grant funding in a generation
- Rebuild the sector’s capacity to borrow and invest in new and existing supply
- Establish an effective and stable regulatory regime
- Reinvigorate council housebuilding
- Forge a renewed partnership with the sector to build at scale
The government says that the long-term nature of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme will offer more certainty for developers to invest and effectively plan housebuilding for the future, compared to the previous five-year £12.3billion 2021-2026 Affordable Homes Programme.
To increase the delivery of social and affordable homes, the government says it is issuing a ‘call to arms’ to everyone with a role in social and affordable housing to show they can deliver at scale and pace. It also plans to work with the sector to agree a joint overall target for social and affordable home delivery.
Also announced at the Spending Review was a new 10-year settlement for social housing rents. This will be introduced from April 2026 and aims to provide the social housing sector with more certainty to be able to reinvest in new and existing housing stock.
The government is also publishing a consultation on how to implement a convergence measure, with options for this being capped at £1 or £2 per week, with a final decision to follow at this year’s Autumn Budget.
