The Housing Secretary delivered a key address at Lloyds Banking Group's Social Housing Forum on 6 July 2026, outlining the government's strategy to tackle the ongoing housing crisis. Speaking at Coin Street, the Secretary emphasised a commitment to significantly increase the provision of social and affordable homes across the UK, describing it as the largest boost in a generation.
During the speech, the Housing Secretary highlighted recent progress, noting that social housing starts had increased, and specifically, that starts on homes for social rent by Homes England and the Greater London Authority (GLA) had doubled under the current administration. The Secretary also mentioned the successful pilot of the Small Sites Aggregator, a joint initiative, which is now slated for a national rollout. This programme aims to facilitate the development of smaller housing projects, contributing to the overall housing supply.
A central tenet of the government's approach, as articulated by the Secretary, is a five-step plan for a 'decade of renewal'. This comprehensive strategy includes a substantial increase in grant funding for social housing, measures to rebuild sector capacity, the implementation of an effective and stable regulatory regime, a reinvigorated focus on council housebuilding, and a stronger partnership with the wider housing sector. The Secretary affirmed that significant progress has been made across these areas in the ten months since taking office.
The address also critically assessed past housing policies, suggesting that approaches in the 1980s undermined social and council housing, leading to a fall in housebuilding and a rise in benefits expenditure. The Secretary presented current government policy as a reversal of this trend, aiming to prioritise building new homes over subsidising private landlords. It was noted that there are currently 134,000 households in temporary accommodation and over a million families on council housing waiting lists, with the housing benefits bill having nearly doubled since 2010.
Furthermore, the government is undertaking a radical overhaul of the Right to Buy scheme. The Secretary stated that over four in ten homes sold under Right to Buy are now privately rented, often at significantly higher rents than their original council tenancy, with taxpayers covering the difference through benefits. The updated policy aims to protect existing social housing stock and prevent newly built homes from being sold off, while still supporting the aspiration of tenants to own their own homes.