2026 is the test: will bold housing policy become real-world delivery?

Policy alone does not build homes. We need systems, partnerships and funding models that can actually deliver at scale and at pace.

As the clock runs down on another turbulent year, the housing sector faces a stark truth: we have a government willing to be bold, a sector willing to deliver, and a housing crisis that won’t wait. What we lack is the machinery - shared, stable and properly scaled - that turns ambition into actual homes.

The new administration deserves genuine credit. Its twin-track commitment to supporting private housing delivery while prioritising social and affordable homes gives the industry the right starting point. But too often, we confuse strong policy direction with actual delivery capacity.

“Policy alone does not build homes. We need systems, partnerships and funding models that can actually deliver at scale.”

The conditions for progress exist. But unless we translate them into execution with absolute clarity in 2026, the dial will barely move.

Small sites could unlock thousands of homes - if we resist the urge to rush

One of the most promising breakthroughs this year has been the Government’s development of its small sites aggregator model. The work we have done alongside Bristol Housing Festival, supported by Lloyds Bank, has been adopted as the principle that sits behind aggregator that the Government intends to deploy across the country.

This shows what is possible when innovative delivery approaches and public land strategies come together. If we get the partnership model right in 2026, we won’t just stabilise delivery - we’ll unlock entirely new capacity

But let’s be honest about the complexity. Creating a replicable model for combined and local authorities is not something that clicks into place overnight.

It requires political bravery, technical rigour and a willingness to stare down short-term pressures for long-term gain. In an era of 15-second attention spans, that isn’t fashionable - but it is essential.

“If we get the partnership model right in 2026, we won’t just stabilise delivery - we’ll unlock entirely new capacity.”

Next year must be the year this model becomes clear, investable and ready to scale.

We cannot afford to lose SMEs - yet we are losing them

While long-range models take shape, there is an immediate threat: the steady collapse of SMEs. Many are viable, skilled and essential to the additive capacity the housing market desperately needs - but without a dependable pipeline, they cannot survive.

If SMEs continue to fall away, we will undermine the very part of the sector best placed to take on smaller, complex, urban sites. Their loss would take years to recover.

2026 must be the year government and Homes England create predictable, SME-accessible delivery channels that rebuild confidence and bring new players back into the market.

The viability gap is becoming a cliff-edge

Local authorities are battling unsustainable spend on temporary accommodation, leaving them barely able to contribute capital to new developments. Grant funding increases and a 10-year programme are welcome, but clarity on actual unit-level grant uplift remains elusive - and without that, schemes simply don’t stack.

To deliver at scale, blended public–private capital will be essential. We’re already developing such vehicles with private funders - but these can only flourish within a stable, predictable programme.

If 2026 is to bring acceleration, not stagnation, government must be explicit, not cautious, about how the viability gap will be genuinely bridged.

Beware the gravitational pull back to the ‘usual suspects’

The resurgence of large strategic partners is positive - but also potentially risky. It is far easier to switch on organisations that already have scale and established routes into Homes England. But stabilising the familiar is not the same as unlocking new delivery.

“If focus drifts back to the biggest incumbents, we will stabilise output - but we won’t accelerate it.”

We cannot afford a return to the old pattern where the majority of investment, grant and opportunity flows to those already equipped to deliver.

If focus drifts back to the biggest incumbents, we will stabilise output - but we won’t accelerate it.

The 1.5 million homes target will only be met if new capacity - industrialised, innovative, scalable - remains a central part of the mission.

Standards must not be diluted - ever

The Future Homes Standard is essential, and any attempt to water it down would be a historic error. Consistent, uncompromising standards drive innovation and create the certainty that investors and delivery partners depend on.

The sector doesn’t need loopholes. It needs leadership. And in 2026, we need government to hold the line.

Long-term stability reduces risk - and risk is the real barrier to delivery

When policymakers talk about “market confidence”, what they are really talking about is risk. Research just released by AtkinsRéalis into investor attitudes towards UK infrastructure found 90% of institutional investors view the UK as an attractive destination for infrastructure over the next three years. but two thirds of investors also admitted to walking away from projects because the business case didn’t stack up, with risk profile one of the main factors behind that.

Every organisation involved in delivering housing - public or private - is being asked to carry risk on behalf of society.

The only way to reduce that risk is through predictable, long-term programmes: stable grant mechanisms, clear pipelines, firm standards and a recognition that social and affordable housing is critical national infrastructure.

So as global competition for capital intensifies, the UK must act decisively to convert positive sentiment into tangible private finance for projects, and we have started to see promising signs:

• mayoralties with clear plans receiving devolved funding
• increased enquiries across the sector
• explicit signals from government that current policies will remain in place

These are the building blocks of confidence. Now they must become the basis of delivery.

What success looks like next year

For the first time in years, the ingredients for real progress exist. What 2026 demands is simply the courage to follow through.

A year from now, success will not be measured simply in homes started - though those numbers must rise. Success will be measured in whether we have constructed the partnership architecture capable of delivering long-term, systemic change.

If by the end of 2026 we have:

• a clear and investable small sites aggregator model
• stable routes for SMEs to re-enter and expand
• a blended funding approach to close the viability gap
• firm standards that drive innovation
• consistent policy signals that reduce risk

…then we will finally be in a position to accelerate housing delivery, not just stabilise it.

“For the first time in years, the ingredients for real progress exist. What 2026 demands is simply the courage to follow through.”

The dial won’t turn itself. But if we choose to act with clarity and conviction, 2026 can be the year we stop talking about ambition - and start delivering it.

Mark Powell is managing director at EDAROTH