The new Social and Affordable Homes Programme will almost double the previous five-year £12.3bn Affordable Homes Programme, which targeted 130,000 homes by 2026.

Rayner’s new programme will set a target of delivering 60% of homes for social rent, equivalent to 180,000 homes, up a third on the previous AHP target.

The Government hopes the programme will give long-term certainty to councils, developers and housing associations, promising a decade of stable funding and reform.

A five-point plan underpins the scheme:

• Biggest grant funding boost in a generation

• Rebuilding the sector’s borrowing and investment capacity

• Stronger regulatory oversight

• Kickstarting council house building

• A renewed partnership to build at scale

Homes England will oversee the majority of funding, with up to 30% – £11.7bn – earmarked for the Greater London Authority.

The government will also introduce a new 10-year rent settlement from April 2026, alongside an overhaul of Right to Buy rules to protect council housing stock and boost new delivery.

A modernised Decent Homes Standard will be rolled out and extended to the private rented sector for the first time. Social housing will be covered by new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards.

Rayner said: “We are seizing this golden opportunity with both hands to transform this country by building the social and affordable homes we need.

“With investment and reform, this government is delivering the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation, unleashing a social rent revolution, and embarking on a decade of renewal for social and affordable housing in this country.”