5 things we learned from the Social and Affordable Homes Programme prospectus

Grant funding can be used for a range of schemes, with a focus on supported housing

Around £27.3bn from the programme will go towards grant funding for the capital costs of developing affordable housing outside of London.

Homes England said bids should demonstrate how developments contribute to national priorities – such as the 1.5 million homes target – as well as local housing needs.

The SAHP will aim to ensure three in every five new homes delivered are for social rent, while also looking to boost council housebuilding, specialist and supported accommodation, and community-led and rural housing.

Providers can bid for funding to deliver a range of projects:

• General needs homes for rent or homeownership
• Specialist supported housing 
• Traveller pitches
• Repurpose empty homes
• Homes in rural areas
• Community-led housing. 

Grant can also be used to regenerate existing housing estates or to acquire market homes to use as affordable housing.

For rented homes, registered providers are expected to work closely with councils to help fulfil their duties to meet local housing needs. This means landlords are expected to provide 100% of first lets through nominations agreements, which determine the percentage of homes to be allocated to households nominated by the council from its register.

A range of supported housing can be delivered with the grant funding, including accessible or adapted homes, purpose-designed supported living, retirement living or sheltered housing. Homes England said it “encourages innovation”, reflecting “best practice and good design” in delivering these homes. This could include schemes that provide intergenerational living in mixed communities, or faith-based homes.

For regeneration projects, the bids will be assessed on whether they demonstrate additionality, for example by delivering additional homes within the existing site boundary through densification, or by replacing one-bed homes with family homes.

The government is committed to supporting estate regeneration schemes to transform neighbourhoods and deliver well-designed housing and a better quality of life for tenants.

Where there are regeneration schemes that do not meet the existing criteria for additionality of affordable homes, the SAHP will, for the first time, assess additionality across small portfolios of sites from the provider. The 10-year period of the programme will be more suited to regeneration timelines.

While most schemes will be delivered on land acquired for building, Homes England said it will also consider bids that propose converting homes built for market sale to social and affordable housing. Bids should demonstrate that this will speed up delivery of affordable homes within this parliamentary term, for example by acquiring unsold new build homes.

The SAHP cannot be used for acquiring Section 106 homes, but the government does expect providers to increase delivery of these properties. The policy statement published alongside the prospectus recognised the reasons social landlords have had to “scale back” Section 106 acquisitions over the recent period.

The government said it is developing a “holistic policy package that will deal with the legacy problem of existing uncontracted Section 106 units”. Homes England said it will collect data on the number of homes partners are delivering through Section 106 and using this to inform any changes to the SAHP.

Providers are also unable to bid for SAHP funding for specialised supported housing or temporary social housing, as defined by the government. 

Providers can become a strategic partner, or bid under the continuous market engagement route 

Homes England will accept bids from both not-for-profit and for-profit registered providers, as well as local authorities, house builders, charities and community-led organisations. Any non-registered partners in the SAHP programme will need to pass ownership and management of completed homes on to a housing association or another registered provider.

Providers can bid as individual organisations or as part of a consortium or strategic partnership. 

Bidding will open in February 2026, pending completion of the necessary subsidy control compliance processes by the Competition and Markets Authority. Homes England will publish full guidance on the bidding process ahead of this.

The latest guidance outlined the two routes available to providers: continuous market engagement (CME) or strategic partnership.

Homes England said CME is an “effective” option for small to medium-sized partners or local authorities that have development ambition but are unable to spend and deliver at scale. This means partners can access funding throughout the programme on a “scheme-by-scheme” basis.

There is also a new ‘portfolio’ option under the CME route, which aims to support partners demonstrating delivery ambition for schemes that may be at different stages of delivery. Grant funding under the CME route is paid on achievement of applicable milestones.

Under the strategic partnership route, funding is offered on a long-term basis for partners with “ambition, capability and track record of delivering large numbers of new social and affordable homes”.

There are four options for becoming a strategic partner, including the existing model of registered providers delivering at scale, local authorities delivering in a single region, specialist and supported housing delivery, and developer-led delivery.

There are various requirements for the four routes, covering the minimum number of homes and an initial funding cap. Developer delivery strategic partnerships, for example, must deliver at least 1,500 homes by 31 March 2036 and funding will initially be capped at £250m. 

Homes England requires all schemes, under both the CME and strategic partnership routes, to start on site by 31 March 2036 and complete by 31 March 2039. It will prioritise early delivery, with a particular focus on completions by 31 March 2039. 

Providers bidding under the strategic partnership route may get the opportunity to apply for additional funding throughout the 10-year programme, depending on budget availability and their delivery performance.

Assessment criteria 

All bids will be assessed on value for money, strategic fit and deliverability, and partners are expected to minimise the level of grant funding requested and maximise their own contribution.

Under the CME route, the value for money metric will be grant per home, whereas strategic partnership bids will be assessed using the benefit-cost ratio set out by the government. Strategic partnership bids will also be assessed on “a pass or fail basis”, which will entail Homes England looking at a provider’s previous track record, local relationships, and evidence of pipeline and planning status.

The government has announced that mayors in six combined authority areas will be able to “set the strategic direction” of the SAHP, including shaping the tenure mix and identifying priority sites.

Homes England said it will share information from bids with the relevant established mayoral strategic authorities (EMSA). But the guidance highlighted that the government agency will remain responsible for final funding and contractual decisions. It also said there is “no expectation that the SAHP will be able to support the delivery of all EMSA ambitions”. 

Homes England encourages delivery of homes above minimum quality requirements

The guidance emphasised that all homes delivered using SAHP grant funding must meet relevant legislative, regulatory and planning policy requirements, such as Parts F, L and M of Approved Document building regulations. 

But Homes England has encouraged partners to deliver homes above minimum requirements, and to share ideas around how SAHP funding can achieve quality and sustainability ambitions. Examples include considering how planned developments could have no ‘reds’ under the Building for a Healthy Life Standard, or how schemes can align with design principles in Homes England’s Healthy Homes Standard.

The prospectus stressed the importance of embedding equality, diversity and inclusion principles “across every stage” of development. Homes England said it expects all partners applying for SAHP funding to “demonstrate their commitment to inclusive practice in the design and delivery of their projects”.

Beyond compliance with equality legislation and robust policies around discrimination, Homes England said partners should focus on “treating communities, contractors and suppliers with dignity and respect”. It also said procurement and delivery processes should be “fair, transparent and inclusive”.

Flexibility to boost diversity of supply

The government has sought to recognise that some “much-needed” types of social and affordable homes often cost more to deliver, such as supported housing or council homes.

For this reason, and based on feedback from providers, the SAHP will have “flexibility on grant rates” to enable delivery of these more expensive homes. This means Homes England will not publish standard grant rates, noting the exception of the time-limited fast-track planning route in London as part of the emergency housebuilding package.

The agency will not publish national, regional or scheme type benchmarks, saying it is keen to support a “wide range of delivery from a diverse range of partners”.

Organisations applying to become a strategic partner will be able to bid for two grant rates per tenure, per region to support distribution across lower and higher cost schemes, according to the prospectus. Partners will also be able to combine grant funding with Right to Buy receipts when submitting bids for SAHP funding.