Call made alongside recommendations to increase grant funding for family-sized and accessible homes
The London Assembly housing committee has called on the mayor to provide revenue funding to supported housing providers as part of the new affordable homes programme (AHP).
In its latest report assessing the effectiveness of the AHP (2021-2026), the elected body said revenue funding should be included in the next programme (2026-36), which has been rechristened as the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP), in order to support the provision of ongoing care and specialist facilities for vulnerable people.
While revenue funding is currently not available through the AHP, it can be accessed through specialist housing schemes, such as the domestic safe accommodation homes programme. However, supported housing providers primarily rely on local authority funding for revenue.
Speaking at a committee meeting held in July 2025, Heather Thomas, chief executive at Sapphire Independent Housing, said that supported housing providers are struggling to remain open without sufficient access to revenue.
She said: “We are and started off as a supported housing provider at Sapphire, and we would love to develop supported housing and it is not that the capital grant is not available under the GLA, it is just that the revenue support side is really the issue.
“Supported housing providers (a) are pulling out, as you probably know, and (b) they are doing that because of concerns about the fact there is no increase in revenue funding and the fact that the revenue funding grant, when it is commissioned, is not ring-fenced. That is really a barrier to expanding the provision of supported housing.”
Tom Copley, deputy mayor for housing and residential development at the Greater London Authority (GLA), responded that the GLA is “in discussions with the government” to introduce revenue funding.
He said: “We are very conscious that revenue funding is tight, but we are making the case that revenue funding is important for supported housing.”
The assembly’s latest report also outlines 11 other recommendations for inclusion in the new AHP.
These include increasing grant funding for family-sized and accessible homes as a standard practice rather than on a case-by-case basis as well as setting targets for the delivery of larger homes for families.
The London Assembly also urged the GLA to implement a successor to the council homes acquisition programme. This would increase the amount of grant per home for councils to bring forward more social housing and raise the cap on funding per unit to allow them to acquire larger family properties.
Zoë Garbett, chair of the London Assembly housing committee, said: “London’s housing crisis is hitting families and disabled Londoners hardest, yet the homes they need most are the ones least likely to be built. The report highlights that delivery has slowed sharply since 2023, at the same time as demand for genuinely affordable housing continues to rise.
“Evidence to the committee showed that rising construction costs, high land prices, increased borrowing costs and new building safety requirements have all reduced the capacity of councils and housing associations to bring forward new homes. Without changes to how funding is allocated, the report warns that delivery under the next affordable homes programme risks falling further behind.”
As of September 2025, 36% of the 17,800 – 19,000 targeted housing starts outlined in the AHP (2021-26) were completed. The programme will end in March.
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