Affordable and social housing supply: latest figures October 2026

England delivered 64,762 affordable homes in 2024 to 2025, an increase of 1 per cent compared with the previous year, according to figures published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in November 2025. This was the highest level of affordable housing supply since 2014 to 2015.

Social rent completions reached 12,198 in 2024 to 2025, the highest recorded value since 2013 to 2014, MHCLG reported in November 2025. Social rent homes now represent a growing share of new affordable housing, while the government has opened bidding for a new ten year Social and Affordable Homes Programme designed to deliver around 300,000 social and affordable homes.

What do the latest affordable housing supply figures show?

MHCLG published its annual affordable housing supply statistics in November 2025, covering the financial year 2024 to 2025. The department reported that 64,762 affordable homes were delivered in England during that year, comprising both new build completions and acquisitions of existing properties. This represented an estimated 30 per cent of the total number of new additions to the housing stock, excluding demolitions.

Of the total affordable housing delivered in 2024 to 2025, MHCLG reported in November 2025 that 58,958 were new build completions, representing an estimated 31 per cent of all new build completions in England. The remaining 4,781 homes were acquisitions of existing properties not previously used for affordable housing, with 1,023 homes where information on whether they were new build or acquisitions was not available.

The 66 per cent of all new affordable housing completions in 2024 to 2025 were for rent, including social rent, affordable rent and intermediate rent, MHCLG reported in November 2025. This proportion has remained similar to the previous six years. The remaining 34 per cent were affordable home ownership products, including shared ownership.

How many social rent homes were delivered?

Social rent completions totalled 12,198 in 2024 to 2025, the highest value since 2013 to 2014, according to MHCLG figures published in November 2025. This marked a significant increase in social rent delivery after years of lower numbers.

Homes England reported in June 2026 that its programmes delivered 9,381 social rent completions in the financial year 2025 to 2026, an increase of 65 per cent compared with the previous year. This represented a substantial acceleration in social rent delivery through government funded programmes outside London.

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Local authorities delivered 10,480 or 16 per cent of all new affordable housing completions in 2024 to 2025, the highest recorded value in the available period since 1991 to 1992, MHCLG reported in November 2025.

The Greater London Authority reported in July 2026 that 11,686 social rent starts, including London Affordable Rent, took place across all GLA funded programmes from April 2023 to March 2026. The boroughs with the greatest number of GLA funded social rent starts in that period were Tower Hamlets with 1,287, Greenwich with 1,065 and Enfield with 828.

What is the difference between social rent and affordable rent?

Social rent and affordable rent are two distinct forms of rented housing provided at below market rates, but they differ significantly in how rents are set. Social rent is typically set at around 50 to 60 per cent of open market rent values, according to Cornwall Council guidance. Rents are calculated using a national formula set by central government that takes account of property values and local earnings relative to national earnings, with a bedroom weighting factor.

Affordable rent was introduced in 2011 and permits rents to be set at up to 80 per cent of market rent, inclusive of service charges, according to the government's policy statement on rents for social housing published in April 2026. The House of Commons Library noted in September 2026 that research suggests affordable rents, which are set at up to 80 per cent of market rents, are less affordable than social rents, particularly in London and the South East.

The government's policy statement published in April 2026 explained that affordable rents are typically higher than social rents. The intention behind this flexibility is to enable properties let on this basis to generate additional capacity for investment in new affordable housing. Since April 2020, rent policy has permitted annual rent increases on both social rent and affordable rent housing of up to CPI plus 1 percentage point, the policy statement confirmed.

How does shared ownership work?

Shared ownership is a part buy, part rent scheme that allows people to buy a share of a property and pay rent on the remaining share. Buyers can purchase an initial share of between 10 and 75 per cent of a home's full market value, according to government guidance on GOV.UK. They then pay rent to the landlord, usually a housing association, for the share they do not own.

The House of Commons Library explained in July 2024 that purchasing a share in a property requires a smaller deposit and mortgage, thereby making it a more affordable route into home ownership. Buyers typically need a deposit of between 5 and 10 per cent of the share they are buying, not the full market value of the whole property.

Shared owners can buy more shares in their home over time, a process known as staircasing. Under the new national model introduced in April 2021 for grant funded homes delivered through the Affordable Homes Programme 2021 to 2026, the House of Commons Library reported in July 2024 that new shared owners can buy additional shares in their home in 1 per cent increments for up to 15 years, with heavily reduced fees. The minimum additional share purchase was reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.

All shared ownership homes, whether houses or flats, are leasehold properties, according to government guidance. The new model extended the minimum shared ownership lease term from 99 years to 990 years, the House of Commons Library noted in July 2024. The House of Commons Library estimated in July 2024 that there were approximately 202,000 households living in shared ownership homes in England, representing less than 1 per cent of all households.

What new funding has been announced?

Homes England opened bidding in February 2026 for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026 to 2036, a ten year programme designed to accelerate delivery of hundreds of thousands of new homes for social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership. The programme includes at least 27 billion pounds worth of funding delivered by Homes England, forming part of the government's 39 billion pound investment to deliver what it described as the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation.

MHCLG's Annual Report and Accounts 2025 to 2026, published in July 2026, stated that the government's ambition is to deliver around 300,000 social and affordable homes over the programme's lifetime, with at least 60 per cent for social rent. Bidding for the new programme opened in February 2026, with the first grants due from April 2026.

Homes England announced in August 2026 that it had confirmed strategic partners who will help deliver the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme. The agency published its investment prospectus in March 2026, setting out how up to 46 billion pounds of capital will be available to partners across the housing and regeneration sector through multiple products and interventions, including grant, debt, equity and guarantees.

In September 2026, Homes England announced a 21.8 million pound boost to the Council Housebuilding Support Fund, designed to help councils strengthen their housebuilding plans and unlock more affordable homes. Bidding opened on 21 September 2026 until 2 November, with funding decisions to be made from December 2026.

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What do these figures mean for housing supply?

The increase in affordable housing supply in 2024 to 2025, particularly the rise in social rent completions, reflects the tail end of previous funding programmes before the launch of the new ten year Social and Affordable Homes Programme. Homes England reported in June 2025 that the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 2016 to 2021 closed for business in March 2024 and, over its lifetime, delivered 136,169 affordable starts on site against a programme target of 130,000.

The Greater London Authority reported in July 2026 that the Affordable Homes Programme 2021 to 2026 achieved 14,335 affordable home starts by March 2026, against a target of 17,800 to 19,000. This represented 81 per cent of homes against the lower target. By March 2026, the GLA had completed 2,607 homes under this programme, 18 per cent of the homes it started, leaving a further 11,728 homes to complete by the March 2030 deadline.

Looking ahead, the scale of the new Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026 to 2036 represents a substantial increase in government funding for affordable housing. However, delivery will depend on a range of factors including land availability, construction capacity, planning approvals and the ability of housing associations and local authorities to bring forward schemes. Some borrowers looking to rent may find more social rent homes becoming available in the coming years if the programme delivers as planned, though actual delivery timescales will vary by area.