Burnham Backtracks on Push to Redirect Housing Fund to Social Homes
- Andy Burnham has backed away from his proposal to spend the Affordable Homes Programme fund exclusively on social home building.
- Ministers announced that an initial £10bn from the ten-year programme will be split across a mix of subsidised housing types in England.
- Around 40 per cent of the £10bn will go towards housing such as sheltered accommodation and shared-ownership properties, in line with Starmer government policy.
Andy Burnham has retreated from his proposal to channel all government housing investment into social home building, aligning himself instead with the Starmer administration's broader approach to subsidised housing.
Ministers confirm mixed funding approach
The government announced on Monday that an initial £10bn from the ten-year Affordable Homes Programme would be distributed across a range of subsidised housing types in England. Approximately 40 per cent of that sum is to be directed towards provision such as sheltered accommodation and shared-ownership homes — a model that diverges from Burnham's earlier position, which had called for funds to be concentrated on building social homes.
A reversal of Burnham's stance
Burnham had previously put forward a proposal to, in effect, tear up existing government housing plans and redirect resources towards social home building at greater scale. Monday's ministerial announcement signals he has stepped back from that position, with the spending framework now proceeding in line with Starmer government policy. The reasons behind the reversal were not set out in the announcement. The full shape of the remaining funding across the programme's ten-year span has yet to be confirmed.
The climbdown comes as Burnham has been seeking to expand mayoral influence over planning decisions more broadly, raising questions about how far regional leaders can shape national housing investment priorities when central government policy points in a different direction.
