‘Councils built this country out of a housing crisis once before,’ the prime minister said
Andy Burnham has pledged a £10bn package to build tens of thousands of homes, marking the first indication of how the new prime minister plans to grapple with Britain’s housing crisis.
This initial wave of funding will build 70,000 homes across England, ministers say, at least 60 per cent of which will be social rented houses.
The funding comes from the previously announced £39bn Social and Affordable Housing Programme (SAHP) fund, agreed last year by former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and former chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Announcing the plan, Mr Burnham said: “Councils built this country out of a housing crisis once before. Backed properly, and trusted to get on with it, they will do it again.”
The announcement forms part of the government’s plan to build 1.5 million homes by 2030 – a goal that housing secretary Angela Rayner has recommitted the Burnham government to, despite admitting it will be “challenging”.
It comes at a time of acute need for the sector. Experts warn that affordable housing has been in rapid decline since the 2010s, as builders and councils have only lost the ability to replenish it due to high costs and red tape.
On the ground, the required 300,000 new homes a year remains far off. The most recent data shows that around 203,000 new homes were delivered in England in the 12 months ending June 2026 – a rate that would see the final housing total fall short by half a million.
Trickier still is delivering affordable homes within this target. Under the SAHP, the government intends to deliver 300,000 homes for social or affordable rent by 2039.
In reality, pressure from developers – who make less money from these kinds of homes – has already started forcing local authorities to backpedal on their affordable home targets.
Social housing: Social homes are available for social rent – typically 50 to 60 per cent of market rates. It includes both council housing and housing association homes
Council housing: Council housing is a kind of social housing, but refers specifically to stock owned by the local authority
Affordable housing: Affordable housing is a broader category that includes government-subsidised rental options and low-cost homeownership schemes like Shared Ownership. For tenants, affordable rents are capped up to 80 per cent of local private market rates