Referral of the proposed London Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-36 by the Greater London Authority
The Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) has accepted a request for a report providing advice to the Greater London Authority (GLA) concerning its proposed London Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-36.
Administrative timetable
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 3 February 2026 | SAU’s report to be published |
| 6 January 2026 | Deadline for receipt of any third-party submissions |
| 18 December 2025 | Beginning of reporting period |
Request from the GLA
12 December 2025: The SAU has accepted a request for a report from the GLA concerning the proposed London Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-36. This request relates to a Subsidy Scheme of Particular Interest.
The SAU will prepare a report, which will provide an evaluation of the GLA’s assessment of whether the subsidy scheme complies with the subsidy control requirements (Assessment of Compliance). The SAU will complete its report within 30 working days.
Information about the scheme provided by the GLA
The London Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-36 (‘the Scheme’) will fund the costs of delivering affordable homes across a range of tenures and locations in London, including homes to rent and buy, and both general needs and specialist and supported housing, where such funding is required to make the delivery of the affordable homes financially viable. The policy objective is to increase the supply of affordable homes in London to meet the needs of those on lower and medium income levels who are unable to buy or rent suitable housing on the open market, improving the standard of living for many disadvantaged people.
The Scheme budget is up to £11.7 billion. Funding will be available as capital grant for affordable housing projects that start on site by March 2036. All projects must achieve practical completion by 31 March 2039. No limit will be set on the maximum subsidy that can be given to any particular organisation or group, but the GLA expects the subsidy to be allocated to a broad range of organisations delivering affordable housing and will ensure that the grant is limited to what is necessary to facilitate delivery of affordable homes through its value for money assessment for each bid. The Scheme will be open to bids from local authorities, for-profit and not-for-profit registered providers of social housing, and unregistered bodies including developers and ‘place-based’ organisations such as development corporations.
Landlords of low-cost rental homes funded under the Scheme must be registered with the Regulator of Social Housing. Providers receiving funding from the GLA through this programme are generally expected to own, and be the immediate landlord of, the completed homes, though other structures will be considered. Providers must qualify as a GLA Investment Partner to receive grant. Unregistered bodies will be subject to additional due diligence checks.
The Scheme will primarily fund the delivery of social rent homes, as well as shared ownership, intermediate rent and London living rent tenures. It may also fund a limited number of other affordable housing products, where these are permissible under the Scheme parameters and support key Mayoral priorities. The Scheme will primarily fund the delivery of new-build affordable homes but will also fund other delivery approaches that provide additional homes. The Scheme may provide funding to:
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acquire and convert a limited number of unsold completed new-build market homes into affordable homes
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acquire a limited number of existing market homes, predominantly for social rent tenure and council-led acquisitions of temporary accommodation
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replace homes on estate regeneration schemes, where these schemes deliver a net increase in affordable housing floorspace
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in exceptional circumstances, refurbish and remodel existing specialist and supported stock
The GLA will run a time-limited competitive initial bidding round which is open to all eligible organisations. This initial bidding window will open for around two months. Organisations can submit bids for named projects (identified sites which they either already own or have a clear timeframe for acquisition and delivery) and for indicative proposals to secure funding for a longer-term development pipeline.
Following conclusion of the initial bidding round, the GLA will reopen bids on a ‘continuous market engagement’ basis (where providers are not time-limited to submit funding bids). Organisations will not be able to submit bids for indicative proposals when continuous market engagement opens but the GLA reserves the right to change its position on limiting indicative bids to the initial bidding round.
The GLA will assess bids in accordance with three assessment criteria: value for money, deliverability and strategic fit. The value for money assessment will ensure that any subsidy awarded does not exceed an amount which, when accumulated with any other public sector funding in respect of the project, would be in excess of the cost/income gap in relation to the delivery of the affordable housing plus a reasonable profit (the ‘viability gap’). Where grant is being provided to affordable housing landlords for the purchase of properties being delivered by developers through planning obligations, the GLA will also check that the subsidy is no more than the difference between the cost to the developer of providing a home as affordable housing and the cost of providing the affordable home as a private sale home in order to check that there is no indirect over-compensation of the developer.
Grant agreements will require recipients to use the subsidy towards delivery of a specified number and tenure of affordable homes and by the milestone dates specified for each project. The agreements will also contain ongoing obligations requiring the homes to be used as affordable housing after practical completion.
More information in relation to the Scheme is set out in the London Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-36 Funding Guidance.
Information for third parties
If you wish to comment on matters relevant to the SAU’s evaluation of the Assessment of Compliance concerning the proposed London Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026-36, please send your comments on the date stipulated in the timetable above. For guidance on representations relevant to the Assessment of Compliance, see the section on reporting period and transparency in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit.
Please send your submissions to us at sau-gla2025lsahp@cma.gov.uk, copying the public authority: affordablehomes@london.gov.uk.
Please also provide a contact address and explain in what capacity you are making the submission (for example, as an individual or a representative of a business or organisation).
Notes to third parties wishing to make a submission
The SAU will only take your submission into account if it can be shared with the GLA. The SAU will send a copy of your submission to the GLA together with its report. This is to allow the public authority to take account of the submission in its decision as to whether to grant or modify the subsidy scheme or its assessment. We therefore ask that you provide express consent for your full and unredacted submission to be shared. We also encourage you to share your submission directly with the GLA using the email address provided above.
The SAU may use the information you provide in its published report. Therefore, you should indicate in your submission whether any specified parts of it are commercially confidential. If the SAU wishes to refer in its published report to material identified as confidential, it will contact you in advance.
For further details on confidentiality of third party submissions, see identifying confidential information in the Operation of the subsidy control functions of the Subsidy Advice Unit.
Contacts
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SAU project team: sau-gla2025lsahp@cma.gov.uk
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CMA press team: 020 3738 6460 or press@cma.gov.uk