Now we have the funding, the sector must rise to the moment

The £39bn SAHP gives England the stability it has lacked for years: the certainty to rebuild capacity, restore confidence and lay the foundations for sustained, long‑term affordable housebuilding – a goal we championed in our 2024 Time To Build campaign. 

At PfP, we know what long‑term and partnership-led delivery looks like. As a trusted strategic Homes England partner since 2016, we are building 7,493 affordable homes across places such as Kettering, Thanet, Birmingham and Exeter – broadening tenure and embedding lasting social value.

From Park Hill in Sheffield to Gilston in East Hertfordshire, we’ve shown how scale, expertise and social purpose can work hand in hand – just as a leading placemaker should. 

“Strategic partnership isn’t transactional – it’s a space for genuine collaboration to turn national ambition into real‑world delivery”

But we also know how to stretch public value further. Through our Thriving Investments business, we blend institutional capital with public funding to unlock additional homes.

Last year, we convened the sector to explore new financial models and support providers to expand capacity. With SAHP grants and Homes England’s low‑cost loans, we can now use both credit and grant as catalysts for thousands more affordable homes – supported by our innovative and concurrent delivery approaches.

SAHP must deliver more than units. It must build social value, skills, capability and long‑term resilience – areas we already lead on but can scale further with the certainty that a 10‑year programme provides.

Our national footprint – 262,000 homes and 100 leisure centres – enables us to generate deep, place‑based social value. Last year alone, our community investment created £550m in social impact. As the UK’s largest social enterprise and an organisation like no other, strengthening the social fabric isn’t an add‑on for us – it is our deep-rooted purpose.

SAHP matters for us all because it changes the rules of the game. It signals a new relationship built on ambition, partnership and long‑term, place‑led delivery. The message from Homes England is clear: be bold. We welcome that and will respond in kind.

Government created the conditions for SAHP’s success – through planning reform, changes to the Building Safety Regulator and new products being developed by the National Housing Bank. But these reforms won’t deliver without committed regional and local action. Strategic partnership isn’t transactional – it’s a space for genuine collaboration to turn national ambition into real‑world delivery.

Skills is another area that has been neglected for too long. The government is now acting and so are we. Through PfP Thrive, our housing and trade skills movement, we are already developing the talent needed for modern construction, offsite manufacturing, housing management and decarbonisation, and building a workforce fit for the future.

“Bold bids will set the tone for the decade. Underspending risks losing momentum and future funding”

In the past, political turbulence and short funding cycles have held the sector back. A 10‑year programme, aligned with rent reform, finally provides the stability to invest confidently, grow supply chains and maintain momentum. For us – and for others – that means building even more affordable homes, in more places, for more people.

Targets will be debated. Numbers will be scrutinised. But the housing crisis is about more than metrics – it is about productivity, skills, resilience and planning for the long term.

SAHP can address these challenges, but only if the sector matches the scale of the government’s ambition. Bold bids will set the tone for the decade. Underspending risks losing momentum and future funding.

This is the moment to reassert housing’s central role in the country’s economic and social mission: delivering the affordable homes people need and building places where communities can thrive for generations.

As the SAHP bidding window opens, the onus is on all of us in the sector to be ready – ready to deliver at scale, ready to partner, ready to innovate and ready to help meet the most ambitious housebuilding targets in a generation. There is hard work ahead, but we should welcome it.

Scott Black, chief operating officer, Places for People