Homes England has announced the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) 2026–2036, a major capital grant initiative to deliver affordable housing across England. With at least £27.3 billion available, including £1.2 billion in bridge funding announced in March 2025, SAHP aims to support the government’s commitment to delivering 1.5 million homes this parliament. The SAHP excludes London, which will receive separate funding through the Greater London Authority. This article explains the programme’s priorities, funding routes, and what housing providers need to do to prepare.

Who can bid for SAHP funding?

Homes England welcomes bids from existing and new partners, including registered providers (both not-for-profit and for-profit), local authorities, developers, charities and community-led organisations. Partners delivering homes for Social Rent, Affordable Rent, or Rent to Buy must be registered with the Regulator of Social Housing and be members of the Housing Ombudsman Service. Unregistered bodies can participate but will need to transfer ownership of rented homes to a registered provider upon completion.

Funding priorities and what can be delivered using SAHP funding

There are both national and regional strategic priorities for SAHP funding, with an expectation on partners using the grant funding to be able to demonstrate how their bids will contribute to these priorities. Regional strategic priorities are set by the Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities for their areas. National priorities focus on:

• Maximising delivery of social and affordable homes, with at least 60% of the total homes to be delivered for Social Rent
• Supporting council housebuilding and specialist housing for older, disabled and vulnerable people
• Encouraging rural and community-led housing

SAHP funding can be used for:

• New-build homes for rent (where the rent is set at Social or Affordable Rent) or ownership (including Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy)
• Specialist and supported housing for older, disabled or vulnerable people
• Regeneration of existing estates and repurposing empty homes
• Traveller pitches and rural housing

Funding cannot be used for homes secured via Section 106 agreements or for temporary social housing.

Routes to funding: Continuous Market Engagement

The first of the two routes to access SAHP funding is Continuous Market Engagement (CME). This route offers two options: the general option and the portfolio option.

The general option will enable partners to bid for grant funding to deliver individual sites on a scheme-by-scheme basis, with priority being given to bids that represent good value for money, are deliverable, and align with national, regional and local affordable housing priorities.

The portfolio option will focus on providing allocations across a portfolio of opportunities to support partners that can demonstrate delivery confidence and ambition for schemes that may be at different stages of delivery. This approach is designed to de-risk and accelerate delivery, as well as deliver strategic and place-based priorities.

Under the CME route, the grant is paid on achievement of delivery milestones. All homes must start on site by 31 March 2036 and complete by 31 March 2039. Priority will be given to early delivery for starts and completions, with a particular focus on completions by 31 March 2029. Within the first two years of the SAHP, Homes England does not anticipate allocating funding where homes are expected to start on site after 1 April 2031, unless they are liked to national strategic priorities and sites.

Routes to funding: Strategic Partnerships

The second route to funding is the Strategic Partnerships route, which allows partners to bid on a long-term programme-level basis. Strategic Partnerships are designed to support partners with ambition, capability and a track record for large-scale delivery of new social and affordable homes.

There are four routes to becoming a Strategic Partner:

• Land-led RP: For registered providers delivering at scale across (typically) multiple regions and taking or sharing development risk. For new land-led partnerships, the initial bid requirements will have an initial funding cap of £250 million and must deliver a minimum of 1,500 homes by 31 March 2036. The grant will be paid quarterly in arrears based on the development expenditure incurred.
• Local authorities: For councils working alone or with RPs in a single region where they are taking or sharing development risk. For new local authority partnerships, the initial bid requirements will have an initial funding cap of £250 million and must deliver a minimum of 800 homes by 31 March 2036. The grant will be paid quarterly in arrears based on the development expenditure incurred.
• Specialist and supported housing: For providers focused on supported, complex or high design schemes where they are taking or sharing development risk. For new specialist and supported housing partnerships, the initial bid requirements will have an initial funding cap of £250 million and must deliver a minimum of 800 homes by 31 March 2036. The grant will be paid quarterly in arrears based on the development expenditure incurred.
• Developer delivery: For developers selling homes to RPs over and above planning requirements or RPs contracting with developers to acquire additional affordable housing at scale, predominately on a turnkey basis, at practical completion. For new developer delivery partnerships, the initial bid requirements will have an initial funding cap of £250 million and must deliver a minimum of 1,500 homes by 31 March 2036. The grant will be paid quarterly in arrears based on achievement of applicable delivery milestones and development expenditure incurred.

For existing Strategic Partnerships, the initial bid requirements will have an initial funding cap of £350 million and must deliver a minimum of 1,000 homes in addition to their existing commitments by 31 March 2036.

Under the Strategic Partnership route, all homes must start on site by 31 March 2036 and complete by 31 March 2039 (with any grant funding payments after 31 March 2036 subject to budget availability).

Bidding for the funding

Homes England expects to open bidding for both funding routes in February 2026, subject to subsidy control compliance.

All bids for grant funding will be assessed based on value for money, strategic fit and deliverability, but this can vary between CME and Strategic Partnership funding routes.

All homes must meet Building Regulations and aim for higher standards, such as Nationally Described Space Standards and Homes England’s Healthy Homes principles. Partners should also demonstrate inclusive practices and compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

SAHP represents a significant opportunity to address housing need and deliver high-quality, sustainable homes. The emphasis on Social Rent and specialist housing is a positive step toward tackling affordability and supporting vulnerable groups. To take advantage of SAHP, providers should act early by reviewing development pipelines, strengthening governance, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

As a leading social housing firm, representing over 200 registered providers of social housing, Capsticks welcomes the SAHP as an initiative that will provide a timely boost for the sector as it seeks to increase the quality and quantity of affordable homes across the country.

We will watch closely for further updates on bidding processes and assessment criteria in early 2026 and provide guidance as these emerge.

How Capsticks can help

If you have any queries around what's discussed in this article, or are looking to bid for funding and need help negotiating the grant funding agreement, please speak to Darren Hooker to find out more about how Capsticks can help.