Affordable Housing: Autumn 2026 Update – A Fresh Approach
Posted on in Real Estate
Since Andy Burnham took over leadership of the Labour Party, there has been a flurry of press releases from the government and speeches by MP’s at the Labour Party annual conference announcing various new policies and amendments to existing legislation to improve the building of, and ultimately access to, affordable housing in England. Whilst the information that has been released is vague, more detail is likely to follow over the next few weeks either before or during the Budget announcement on 28 October.
Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP)
On 21st September 2026, the government announced an additional £21.8 million pound boost to the Council Housebuilding Support Fund (CHSF). The fund is intended to help local authorities build the skills, capacity and partnerships needed to develop strong bids for the SAHP. The intention is to unlock more housing opportunities by helping councils access the £39 billion grant funding available through the newly proposed 10-year SAHP, which the government announced in August.
‘Your First Home’ product
On Saturday 26th September the government announced a new equity loan scheme to help first-time buyers purchase their first home.
Similar to the previous Help to Buy scheme, this will comprise a reduced deposit (2.5%) and a 20% government-backed equity loan with an initial interest-free period. The current average house price in the UK (July 2026) is £272,611, meaning that a deposit of £6,815 would be required to secure a house under this scheme, which for some is a much more achievable target than the traditional 10% (or more) deposit usually required to buy a house.
The scheme will only apply to new-build properties, and developers will be expected to make a contribution when signing up to the scheme to help cover the government's costs. It’s unclear what those contributions will be, but as the sector struggles with a slow down in the sale of new-build properties, the scheme could help to revitalise sales.
Social Housing Bill
On Monday 28th September the government confirmed it will bring forward proposed amendments to the Social Housing Bill. The government’s aim is to retain more social homes, strengthen homelessness prevention and ensure social housing is allocated to those who need it most
One of the additional proposed amendments to the Bill includes giving councils new powers to refer homeless households to private registered providers of social housing to reduce the reliance on temporary accommodation.
The relevant social housing provider will not be able to refuse to house homeless families without good reason. Inside Housing reported this week that councils in England spent nearly £3bn on temporary accommodation for the homeless in the last financial year, and therefore this could reduce councils’ expenditure in this area quite drastically if there is sufficient engagement from social housing providers.
The Bill will also include provisions to give councils and social housing providers a better opportunity to purchase social homes before they are sold outside the sector. The government proposes extending the time period for social housing providers to give notice of a disposal of a property to eight weeks, to allow other councils and housing associations an earlier opportunity to purchase the property before it is sold on the open market.
It remains to be seen whether the proposals will make it easier for social housing providers to purchase and retain viable social homes, or whether it will make purchasing and disposing of social housing logistically more complex.
The Bill, which was announced on 13 May 2026, already contains substantial reform to Right to Buy, a statutory framework to assist social housing providers in gaining access to properties to comply with their legal obligations (such as to carry out gas safety checks) and new protections for survivors of domestic abuse.
Leasehold reform
In Andy Burnham’s first speech as Prime Minister at the Labour Party annual conference on 29th September, he announced that there would be a Bill introduced before Christmas in relation to long overdue leasehold reform. No further information was provided, however, as to what this may cover.
Predictions
With the Labour annual conference taking place this week and the budget looming, it’s no surprise that we’ve been given small snippets of the bigger plans which Labour plan to unveil later in the month. It will be interesting to see the sector’s reaction to the proposals, and to see how the amendments and schemes are intended to work in practice.
How can Tozers help?
We are closely monitoring the Government’s announcements so we can advise clients as soon as any draft Bill is published. Tozers will provide more commentary and information in the coming weeks.