Affordable housing has emerged as a big winner today, here is a round-up of the key points

Today’s long-awaited spending review has been labelled ‘transformative’ and as a ‘game-changer’ by housing leaders, with a huge rise in Affordable Homes Programme funding confirmed.

The social housing sector has emerged as a winner, with a £39bn, 10-year programme which came as a surprise to many after reports earlier in the week suggested the funding would be much lower.

The sector also secured a 10-year, CPI plus 1% rent settlement, a consultation on rent convergence and equal access to building safety remediation funding.

The government also confirmed £10bn for “financial investments” with some of the money to support the delivery of new homes. This will be delivered at least in part through Homes England and is intended to “crowd in” private investment through loans and equity investments. 

Alongside the spending review, the Treasury also published the findings of its review into the Green Book, the government’s investment guidance on value for money. The Treasury said it would publish an updated Green Book in early 2026, introducing “place-based business cases” which bring together projects “needed to achieve the objectives of a particular place”. The government said these would ensure that “central government properly assesses the complementarities between different projects, such as housing and transport.”

See below for our full coverage and an at-a-glance guide to the key measures.

More on the spending review:

>>Reeves announces £10bn for ‘financial investments’ to attract private funding alongside £39bn AHP boost

>>Reeves to announce £39bn Affordable Homes Programme and 10-year rent settlement

>>Government confirms equal access to Building Safety Fund for social landlords

>>‘Transformative’, ‘a game changer’ - social housing leaders react to surprise £39bn Affordable Homes Programme boost

>>Government recommits £13.2bn to warm homes plan

>> Government announces rise in temporary accommodation fund

At-a-glance: the key spending review measures for housing and construction 

  •  £39bn for a new 10-year Affordable Homes Programme
  •  A 10-year rent settlement under which annual rents increase by CPI plus 1%
  •  A consultation on re-introducing rent convergence
  •  £2.5bn in low interest loans for social housing providers to boost their development capacity
  •  An additional 10 billion pounds for financial investments, including to be delivered through Homes England “to crowd in private investment”
  •  £950 million of investment for the fourth round of the Local Authority Housing Fund increase the supply of temporary accommodation
  • A re-commitment of £13.2bn to the Warm Homes Plan to upgrade homes
  • Protecting spending on tackling homelessness and rough sleeping, and providing £100 million, including from the Transformation  Fund, for early interventions to prevent homelessness
  •  Establishing a new local growth fund for specific mayoral city regions in the North and Midlands
  • Investing in up to 350 deprived communities across the UK, to “fund interventions including community cohesion, regeneration and improving the public realm”.
  • Resource budget for MHCLG to fall 1.4% between 2025/26 and 2028/29
  • Savings identified through the Treasury’s zero based review include cutting communications and marketing spending by 70%
  • MHCLG has identified £50 million of technical efficiencies by 2028-29, to be delivered through workforce and digital reform.
  • £14.2 billion for a new nuclear power station Sizewell C
  • £2.5bn confirmed for Small Modular Reactors as part of its industrial strategy to be published this summer
  • Providing £15.6 billion in total by 2031-32 for the elected mayors of some of England’s largest city regions to invest in local transport plus £2.3bn investment in local transport grant
  • Multi-year settlement for Transport for London totalling £2.2bn
  • £3.5bn for the Transpennine Route Upgrade between Manchester and Leeds.
  • £2.5bn to deliver East West Rail “unlocking the potential of the Oxford to Cambridge growth corridor”

 

 

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