Alex Cunningham Attends Homes England SAHP Event

Our Head of Land + Partnerships, Alex Cunningham, attended the recent Homes England Live Event in Sheffield, held the day after bidding opened for the new Social and Affordable Housing Programme (SAHP) 2026–2036.

The event brought together a wide range of stakeholders from across the housing, development, and investment sectors to discuss upcoming opportunities and the future direction of affordable housing delivery.

SAHP 2026-2036: Bidding Now Open

It was announced at the Event that bidding for the new £39bn programme is now live, with funding available across the country – including the Greater London Authority (GLA) area. Two funding routes are available:

• Strategic Partnerships (SP) for long-term, large scale agreements.
• Continuous Market Engagement (CME) for scheme-by-scheme or portfolio bidding, expected to remain open for around six-seven years.

Funding and Programme Focus

Of the total programme value, £39bn, Homes England’s allocation is £27.3bn and the remaining £11.7bn is allocated to GLA areas. The projected programme-wide tenure mix is 60% social rent, and based on historic take up. Homes England are expecting the remainder to be ~26% shared ownership and ~14% affordable rent.

However, there will be no standardised grant rate, with funding continuing to be assessed on a site-specific basis. This will be supported by an updated Homes England Viability Toolkit, due for release soon. This will provide guidance on achievable grant levels and allow developer profit to be included on land acquisition rather than treating land solely as a cost, helping to improve overall site viability.

Additional Funding Streams

New and updated funding mechanisms were highlighted, including:

• A forthcoming National Housing Bank is due to launch on 1st April 2026, focused on supporting new affordable housing delivery.
• Enhanced support for SMEs through the Home Building Fund.
• Around £4bn for local authorities via the Housing Infrastructure Fund to unlock challenging sites.

S106 Clearing Service

It was recommended that developers with unsold S106 units should register their schemes on the clearing service. The data collected from this service is used by Homes England to lobby The Treasury for additional S106 funding. Without submissions, there will be a lack of evidence to highlight any possible unmet demand. We are already assisting clients with S106 opportunities and encourage all of registered provider clients to register for the service as soon as possible.

Key Takeaways and Discussions

Stakeholders welcomed long‑term programme certainty but noted ongoing viability challenges, particularly for social rent developments. Throughout the event, there was a strong emphasis on improving deliverability through flexible funding mechanisms and Homes England supporting SME developers to increase supply.

The event highlighted Homes England’s commitment to long‑term affordable housing delivery, increased flexibility in grant funding, and targeted support to help unlock new development. With bidding now open, we look forward to helping our clients deliver much needed new housing over the next 10 years with this additional grant funding.