Homes England and GLA reveal Social and Affordable Homes Programme bidding to open this month

Under the Homes England element, covering development outside London, bidding will be through two routes. 

One route is continuous market engagement (CME), where applicants can bid on a scheme-by-scheme or a new portfolio basis.

Last August, Homes England revealed that it had allocated nearly £20m of funds to a council to pilot the portfolio route.

Under this system, the agency will allocate funds across a portfolio of opportunities where schemes may be at different stages of delivery, “to de-risk and accelerate delivery”, according to Homes England. 

Through the strategic partnerships route, applicants can bid on a long-term, programme-level basis.

Bidding through the strategic partnership funding route will close on 15 April 2026, Homes England said.

Under the CME and strategic partnership routes, all homes must start on site by 31 March 2036 and complete by 31 March 2039. 

As part of its priorities, the government has said it expects that at least 60 per cent of homes delivered through SAHP funding will be for social rent. 

The SAHP is also aiming to boost council housebuilding, the delivery of specialist and supported housing, and community-led and rural housing. 

Plans for the new SAHP, which runs from 2026 to 2036, were first announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves last June. Further details were announced by the government in November. 

The scheme is a replacement for the current Affordable Homes Programme, which launched in 2021 under the previous government and concludes this year. 

Organisations able to bid for funding are: not-for-profit registered providers; for-profit registered providers; local authorities; house builders and developers; charities; and community-led organisations. 

Bids for funding will be assessed based on “value for money, strategic fit and deliverability”, Homes England said.