Social and Affordable Homes Programme: Council House Building
House of Commons · Written Statements · 1 Sep 2026 · 1 speech · Official Report
Everyone deserves to live in a decent, safe, secure and affordable home. Yet far too many families in need of one are languishing on local authority waiting lists and almost 180,000 children are growing up in temporary accommodation, including over 100,000 in London. That is why this Government committed in our manifesto to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a generation, and to supporting councils and housing associations to make a greater contribution to affordable housing. After years of marginalisation, we are once again asserting the necessity and the value of social rented homes. They are a crucial national asset to be proud of, to invest in, to protect and to maintain. Under the leadership of the new Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham), the Government are also determined not only to build upon the steps that we have already taken to reinvigorate council house building, but to decisively raise our ambition to ensure that we build council houses on a scale not seen in decades. To kickstart social and affordable house building across the country, we have delivered the biggest boost to grant funding in recent memory through our new 10-year £39 billion social and affordable homes programme. The core strategic objective of the programme is to maximise supply, particularly of social rent homes, with a target to deliver at least 60% of the homes under the programme as social rent, in line with...