Government sets target of ‘at least’ 180,000 social rent homes through renamed AHP

The government said it was 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”. It said it would work with the sector in the coming months to agree a joint target on how many social and affordable homes could be delivered overall.  

Alongside this, a long-term plan – called ‘Delivering a decade of renewal for social and affordable housing’ – is being published on Wednesday to set out how the government will deliver the “biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation”, alongside improving the safety and quality of homes.

It includes five steps:  

• 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 plan is expected to include updated details on the new Decent Homes Standard, as well as changes to Right to Buy. 

MHCLG said it has “listened carefully” to social housing providers and tenants, and that the new plan reflects this engagement and builds on the investment strategy laid out at the Spending Review.

Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and housing secretary, 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.”    

The government announced £39bn in the Spending Review for a new 10-year Affordable Homes Programme, which amounts to nearly £4bn per year.

MHCLG said the long-term nature of the programme will offer more certainty for developers to invest and effectively plan housebuilding for the future.    

Labour’s position has long been to go “net positive” on social rent homes. In June, the government confirmed to Inside Housing that the new cash injection will prioritise social housing.

A clue about the newly announced target came in April when the boss of Homes England revealed that around 60% of the government’s pre-Spending Review top-ups to the AHP was being spent on social rented homes.

More recently at Housing 2025, Eamonn Boylan revealed that the new programme would open for bids by the end of the calendar year.