Mayors outside of London are to be given greater influence over the government’s £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme.

Designed to bring down record numbers of households stuck on social housing waiting lists, the new programme is expected to deliver at least 60% social rent homes – boosting the social housing stock by 180,000 across England including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and the North East.

Many councils will build social housing at a scale not seen in years, receiving millions of pounds to draw up plans this year that will unlock thousands of new council homes.  But whether they can deliver during this parliament to help the government reach its 1.5 million homes target, remains to be seen.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: “Families have been trapped in so-called temporary accommodation for years or stuck on council waiting lists with no hope of a secure home.

“We’re changing that for good with the biggest boost to social housebuilding in a generation and getting behind mayors who are ready to build affordable housing across their regions.

“We’re also backing councils to build again and transform derelict sites into thriving neighbourhoods, urging them to go big, go bold and go build.”

For the first time mayors, working jointly with Homes England, will shape the course of action for new affordable housing money in their regions, setting out plans for the types of homes that get built, sites prioritised for construction and how many suitable bids for grant funding could come forward in each area.

As part of these plans housing providers will be required to demonstrate how their bids align with local priorities, accelerating delivery of homes that genuinely meet local needs, ranging from specialist housing for older people to community-led projects.

The Housing Secretary and Housing Minister are calling on the sector to be as “ambitious as possible” in their bids for new grant funding, with the door to bidding officially opening in February, working hand in glove to maximise use of the record investment.

To further ramp up housebuilding, the government is removing barriers preventing councils building at scale. This includes a new route to bid into the Social and Affordable Homes Programme as well as allowing councils to combine Right to Buy receipts from sales with grant funding from next year.

The government will also shortly be informing councils of their initial offer under the latest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund and providing guidance on how they can apply for funding. The £950 million – the largest investment in the fund to date – will increase the supply of good-quality temporary accommodation for homeless families and driving down the use of costly B&Bs.

Focused on regional mayors getting more spades in the ground, the government is also injecting £150 million to transform derelict brownfield sites into over 4,000 new homes. Awarded directly to mayoral strategic authorities, the money will unlock left-behind sites and create jobs, paving the way for more local families and working people to step onto the housing ladder.

The Social and Affordable Homes Programme is a 10-year programme (2026-2036) worth a record £39 billion investment, delivered through Homes England (outside London) and the Greater London Authority (in London).

Today confirms how the programme will be delivered in practice, with delivery partner prospectuses being published detailing how social housing providers can access funding, the expectations placed on them, and the flexibilities built into the programme to support an ambitious pipeline of new homes.

Bidding guidance will be published by Homes England and the Greater London Authority ahead of bidding opening in February 2026.

Indicative funding for Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities, subject to suitable bids, include:

• Greater Manchester: £1.8 billion
• West Midlands: £1.7 billion
• North East: £1.1 billion
• West Yorkshire: £1 billion
• Liverpool City Region: £700 million
• South Yorkshire: £700 million.