The government has announced plans to deliver 300,000 social and affordable homes through the new £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme.

At least 60% - around 180,000 homes - will be available for social rent, in the plan announced by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

The package aims to drive the government’s mission to build 1.5 million homes and deliver the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation.

Alongside this, a long-term plan – Delivering a Decade of Renewal for Social and Affordable Housing – is being published today (2 July) to set out how the government will deliver the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation, alongside driving up the safety and quality of homes. 

Living standards for millions of social housing tenants will also be driven up under new plans to update and modernise the Decent Homes Standard, which will be extended to privately rented homes for the first time, and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards will be implemented for the first time in the social housing sector. 

Further measures set out in the plan includes transformative changes to Right to Buy and other measures to protect vital council housing stock, unlocking investment in new and existing social housing, and increasing overall standards alongside a rallying call for the sector to step up and deliver. 

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.”

A five-point plan underpins the Social and Affordable Homes Programme. These are:

• 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

To deliver the housing the country needs, the government confirmed at the Spending Review a new 10-year £39bn programme to kickstart building at scale.  

Homes England – the government’s housing and regeneration agency – will be responsible for delivering the majority of the funding, with up to 30% of funding – up to £11.7bn over the 10 years - being used to support housing delivery from the Greater London Authority in the capital.    

Government says the long-term nature of the Social and Affordable Homes Programme will also offer more certainty for developers to invest and effectively plan housebuilding for the future, compared to the previous five-year £12.3bn 2021-2026 Affordable Homes Programme.   

The last five year 2021-26 programme averaged £2.3bn per year - this means the government will be spending almost double this on affordable housing investment by the end of this Parliament (£4bn in 2029/30). 

To achieve the ambition of delivering more social and affordable housing, the government is issuing a ‘call to arms’ to everyone with a role in social and affordable housing to prove they can deliver at scale and at pace. And as part of this effort, it will work with the sector in the coming months to agree a joint overall target on how many social and affordable homes can be delivered overall. 

A new long-term 10-year settlement for social housing rents will be introduced from April 2026 to provide the social housing sector with the certainty they need to reinvest in existing and new 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.   

Further views will be sought on a new Decent Homes Standard which will modernise the standard.

The government has also set out a package of wider reforms to the Right to Buy scheme to protect vital housing stock and to enable councils to ramp up delivery of new homes. This follows the reduction in maximum cash discounts that was implemented in November 2024.   

Industry has welcomed the announcement. ACE Group, which comprises the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) and the Environmental Industries Commission (EIC), has praised the scale of the plan's ambition, while encouraging the programme to prioritise the quality of what is built, not merely the quantity whilst ensuring the necessary infrastructure for new homes is provided. 

Kate Jennings, CEO of ACE Group, said: “Building such a new volume of social housing means this is more than a housing plan, it is an opportunity to build the necessary foundations for communities and families. Our industry stands ready to support the Government in creating not just homes, but communities with embedded principles of exceptional place.

“Essential to this is government-backed social housing that provides places of character and low-carbon performance with social and transport infrastructure as the guiding spine. Beautiful, sustainable design is not a luxury in social housing; it is essential to the long-term life cycle of new social housing. 

“We will not solve the housing crisis by building alone. We need policies that incentivise longevity, social value and beauty. Mission critical to that is ensuring housing is linked to infrastructure, so new social housing is not disconnected or cut off.” 

Marie-Claude Hemming, Director of Policy at ACE Group, added: “Every pound of investment must do more: cutting emissions and energy bills today while reducing maintenance and the risk of retrofit costs tomorrow. The value of design at the outset can pay over decades. Low-quality, short-sighted builds simply push today’s savings into tomorrow’s risk, particularly for exceptionally expensive retrofitting.” 

“ACE has long championed the role of design in building pride and resilience within communities. As the Government moves to rebalance the housing market through a greater uplift of social housing, ACE Group argues that social housing must lead the way in demonstrating architectural integrity, placemaking, and environmental stewardship”