Member Briefing for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme Prospectus 

Last week the government released new details about how the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) will be delivered once it opens for applications in February 2026.  

The SAHP was originally announced as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review and will provide £39 billion worth of grant funding to build 300,000 new social and affordable homes over 10 years. Unlike the current Affordable Homes Programme, the new SAHP will prioritise the delivery of homes for social rent, with 60% of funding being directed towards this tenure.   

The prospectus published last week provides the full details of how the SAHP will be delivered, including major changes from the current programme. These include greater support for regeneration, with the grounds by which ‘additionality’ can be demonstrated significantly expanded, as well as the SAHP being able to fund a limited number of property acquisitions.  

The next SAHP will also be aligned to local priorities to a much greater extent than currently. Each Established Mayoral Strategic Authority (EMSA) will be able to set the strategic direction of the SAHP in their areas and establish programme priorities, including the types of property, tenure and individual sites that should be prioritised. In the North, the ESMAs who have established these priorities are the Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, North East, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire combined authorities.   

A briefing, including the full details and priorities of the new funding programme, including the stated priorities of each Established Mayoral Strategic Authority is available here.