North and Midlands central to govt’s £39bn affordable homes drive

Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, and the North East are expected to invest £1.8bn, £1.7bn, and £1.1bn, respectively, as part of a programme to deliver 300,000 properties over the next 10 years.

Housing secretary Steve Reed has announced the allocations as part of a £39bn investment in the Social and Affordable Homes Programme.

The SAHP’s core objective is to maximise supply, particularly of social rent homes, for which a build target of 180,000 homes has been set.

Figures for the total indicative level of spend for the regional authorities are broken down as follows.

• £1.8bn for Greater Manchester
• £700m for Liverpool City Region
• £1.1bn for the North East
• £700m for South Yorkshire
• £1bn for West Yorkshire
• £1.7bn for the West Midlands

These figures will guide providers on the expected scale of investment in each region up until 2036.

Homes England will be responsible for delivery outside of London, with bidding for the programme expected to open in February 2026.

Final spending will depend on the number and quality of bids approved by Homes England.

Bidders will have two routes: strategic partnerships, offering long-term multi-year funding agreements with larger providers, and continuous market engagement, a rolling, flexible route for providers to bid for funding on a scheme-by-scheme basis, assessed against deliverability, local need, and value for money.

The government states it has worked alongside the established mayoral strategic authorities to design the programme.

Steve Reed, housing secretary, said: “This investment will be life-changing for thousands of families.

“We’re putting our regional Mayors firmly behind the driving seat to build, with new cash to turn wastelands into homes and slash social housing waiting lists.

“Fire up those diggers and build, baby, build.”

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Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Having a decent, secure home in a healthy and safe place is one of the foundations of a good life, but too many people in our city region are being held back because of a housing crisis that has gripped the country.

“Today’s announcement is a major step towards changing that: unlocking land, building the right homes in the right places, and giving local areas more of a say in how our communities grow.

“[The investment] means we can get on with the job of delivering 10,000 energy-efficient homes for social rent by 2030 – homes that people can actually afford and that will stand the test of time.

“Working with Homes England, we’re determined to make this funding count for every community across Greater Manchester.”

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool City Region, added: “This marks the single biggest earmarked investment in housing our region has ever seen – and the largest pot of funding we’ve ever seen for social rented and affordable homes.

“It’s a massive vote of confidence from the government in our region’s ability to deliver.

“Since I was elected, we’ve built more than 32,000 homes, invested a further £60m in developing brownfield sites, and retrofitted 10,000 houses. We’ve built up real momentum – but now we’re ready to turbocharge our housebuilding plans.”

He continued: “This new funding will help us to go even further towards our target of building 16,000 new social and affordable homes over the next decade – good quality homes that local people can be proud of while also helping us to tackle the homelessness crisis.

“We’ve got the vision, the skills, and an abundance of ambition to help the government hit its national targets – but, most importantly, this is about helping more local people and families into safe, secure, and affordable homes of their own.

“Homes where people can put down roots, build their futures, and get on the housing ladder.”

As part of the programme, £2.5bn of low-interest loans to support the delivery of new social and affordable housing is also to be granted.

The loans will be open to private registered providers, though the majority will be offered to London due to its acute challenges for PRPs.

In addition to the SAHP, the government has confirmed a £40m brownfield boost for Greater Manchester, allocated £25.8m under the Brownfield Housing Fund, and Liverpool City Region, which has been granted £13.8m under the same framework.