Pre-Budget Briefing: Over £1bn for Social and Affordable Housing and New Powers for England's Mayors

Two days before the Autumn Budget, the government has set out the shape of a significant intervention in social and affordable housing. The Treasury confirmed on 24 October that the Budget will provide more than £1bn of new funding for the sector and hand England's mayors and regional leaders greater powers and money, part of a stated ambition to restore the public housing stock and widen regional delivery capacity. ## What has been trailed ahead of the Budget

The headline commitment is a fresh injection of capital for the sector. According to reporting of the Treasury announcement, the Budget will provide more than £1bn for social and affordable housing, a move that could deliver up to 10,000 council homes.

The new money builds on an existing long-term programme rather than standing alone. The additional funding takes total capital investment to more than £40bn over the next ten years, and is accompanied by measures to help councils fund construction directly.

• • More than £1bn of new funding for social and affordable housing
• • Up to 10,000 council homes cited as potential delivery
• • Total ten-year programme rising to more than £40bn
• • Councils to be helped to borrow via extended preferential rates

The Budget will provide more than £1 billion for social and affordable housing and give England's mayors and regional leaders greater powers and funding.

PA / Irish News, 2026

Helping councils build again

A central plank of the package is making it easier for local authorities to finance new homes. The government plans to help more councils borrow for housebuilding by extending preferential rates, aimed at replacing homes lost to earlier sales and expanding council delivery.

The framing sits within a broader policy push. The Prime Minister has promised the largest post-war council and social housebuilding programme, including the exemption of new build homes from Right to Buy for 35 years, a measure intended to protect new stock from immediate resale.

More power, and money, for the regions

Alongside the housing cash, the Budget is set to rebalance decision-making towards regional leaders. The announcement of more money and more responsibilities for mayors is intended to boost economic growth across the country.

There is also funding attached to the new responsibilities. Strategic authorities are to receive £150m next year to build their capability to take on the new powers and manage complex projects and investment programmes. The Prime Minister has argued that local leaders should not have to go cap in hand to Whitehall to fund projects.

What investors and developers should watch

For those tracking the UK housing market, the significance lies in the direction of travel as much as the figures. A larger, longer-dated grant programme and cheaper council borrowing point to a more active public sector pipeline over the next decade, which could reshape where and how affordable and social homes come forward.

As ever, announcements precede delivery. The detail that matters, including allocation timing, regional splits and how quickly funding converts into sites, will become clearer at the Budget on 28 October and in the programme guidance that follows.

The Autumn Budget on 28 October should turn these pre-briefed headlines into firm numbers, including how the new funding is allocated and how far council borrowing support extends. Silkwood Group will review the confirmed detail once the Chancellor has delivered the statement.

Sources

• • Irish News (PA): Budget to increase cash for social housing and give England's mayors more powers
• • AOL: Chancellor to unveil £1bn boost to build up to 10,000 new council homes in Budget
• • Kent Online (PA): Budget to increase cash for social housing and give England's mayors more powers