UK announces plan to build 180,000 social homes

The government has announced plans to build 300,000 affordable homes in the next decade, at least 180,000 of which will be for social rent.

This commitment will be delivered through the £39-billion new Social and Affordable Homes Programme announced at the Spending Review, and it would see the government building social housing at a rate six-times faster than the previous decade up to 2024.

The government announced that the Decent Homes Standard would be modernised and updated, and it will be extended to privately rented homes for the first time. Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards will also be implemented for the first time in the social housing sector.

These changes form part of the government’s broader plan for improving Britain’s housing stock. Published today, the plan includes significant changes to Right to Buy and other measures to protect vital council housing stock, increase investment in social housing, and increasing overall standards.

A new long-term 10-year settlement for social housing rents will be introduced from April 2026, and 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.

The UK’s housing crisis has left more than 165,000 children in temporary accomodation, and the government aims for this affordable housing programme to help solve this issue and give younger generations a better chance to own their own home.

Five steps for affordable housing in the UK

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner laid out the following five steps of the government’s plan for affordable housebuilding over the next decade:

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

“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,” Rayner said.

“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.”