The government has confirmed the headline parameters of the new 10 year Social and Affordable Homes Programme. The budget is £39 billion with an ambition for around 300,000 social and affordable homes, at least 60% for social rent. Bidding opened in February 2026. For context, Q3 2025 saw only 30,880 completed new builds, well short of the approximately 75,000 per quarter needed to sustain current targets, let alone Labour’s 1.5 million pledge which would require over 100,000 per quarter. The gap between announced programmes and actual delivery remains significant.