Andy Burnham government to hand Greater Manchester £529m to build thousands of affordable homes

Andy Burnham is handing out £10 billion in a bid to ‘build the country out of a housing crisis’ as he says ‘no child should be raised in a hostel room’.

Nationally, almost 180,000 children are growing up without a permanent home, the Government added. The allocations, which are wave one of Labour’s £39bn 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme, aim to help families ‘trapped in temporary accommodation or stuck on housing waiting lists’ into ‘safe, secure homes’.

The Prime Minister said the cash will go to regional mayors, councils, housing associations and other providers to be spent on building ‘genuinely affordable homes’. Around 60pc of the more than 70,000 properties to be funded through the allocations are expected to be social rent.

Of the money up for grabs, Greater Manchester will be allocated £529 million – the largest share of any of the six mayoral areas that will benefit from this round. This is expected to deliver around 4,400 new homes, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said.

In November 2025, it was announced that Greater Manchester would ultimately benefit from £1.8bn from the Social and Affordable Homes Programme.

Mr Burnham said: “No child should be raised in a hostel room and no family should wait ten years for a front door of their own. I have said from my first day in this job that everything starts with a good home.

“Nearly £10 billion will go to councils and housing associations to build genuinely affordable homes, most of them for social rent, in the places where families are waiting longest.

“Councils built this country out of a housing crisis once before. Backed properly, and trusted to get on with it, they will do it again.”

Housing and Planning Minister, Matthew Pennycook, said: “Everyone deserves to live in a decent, safe, secure and affordable home. Yet far too many families in need of one are languishing on social housing waiting lists and almost 180,000 children in England are growing up homeless in temporary accommodation. 

“The only way to fix this is to build more social and affordable housing which is why we’re backing local leaders with up to £529m to support the construction of around 4,000 new social and affordable homes for families in need across Greater Manchester.”

Under new rules, councils will also be able to retain all money generated from right to buy receipts to reinvest in new social and affordable housing.

The announcement follows promises from new Greater Manchester mayor Bev Craig to build 50,000 new affordable homes across the region by 2039. Some 10,000 of these are expected to be built or in the pipeline by May 2028.

Ms Craig has promised to deliver a ‘golden era of more council and social homes’, adding there is a national housing crisis. Government grants, including the Social and Affordable Homes Programme funding, are expected to go towards paying for these.

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “It is hugely welcome to see this much-anticipated funding confirmed, something we have been calling for to kickstart construction on tens of thousands of desperately needed new social homes.  This is a major vote of confidence in not-for-profit housing associations and in the vital and distinct role they play in this country, as organisations that work for the long-term benefit of their communities.

“Housing associations have risen to the challenge of delivering the government’s ambitions. Working in partnership with government, councils and mayors, they have used the support and certainty provided by government to rebuild their development capacity, invest in skills, and be the strong and reliable partners needed to build a new generation of social and affordable homes, alongside increasing investment in their existing homes. This is no better demonstrated than in the scale and ambition of the bids submitted to this Social and Affordable Homes Programme. 

“We will continue to work with national and local government to maximise housing associations’ potential to deliver new social rented homes during this parliament and over the next decade, meeting the housing needs of local people in every part of the country.”