Perspectives
Housing 2026: Turning ambition into delivery
by Craig Jackson
Associate Director
A few points stood out:
- Long-term certainty changes what is possible. The ten-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme gives housing providers greater confidence to plan, invest and form longer-term partnerships. It could also create better conditions for innovation and modern methods of construction, where commitment and scale are essential.
- Funding does not remove the viability challenge. Remediation costs, infrastructure requirements, construction costs and lower market values continue to make some schemes extremely difficult to unlock. Ambition must therefore be matched by a realistic understanding of what makes development viable in different places.
- Regeneration and new supply must progress together. The sector cannot treat them as competing priorities. New homes are urgently needed, but investment in existing communities, public realm, infrastructure, services and employment is equally important if we are to create places that work over the long term.
- Housing should be treated as essential social infrastructure. Its value extends well beyond development and construction. Secure, good-quality housing can support better health, help prevent homelessness and reduce reliance on temporary accommodation. That wider impact should be reflected in how investment decisions are made.
- Building safety is becoming a question of culture, not simply compliance. The discussions felt more mature than in previous years, with greater emphasis on competence, accountability and maintaining robust evidence throughout design and delivery. This needs to become embedded across organisations and project teams.
"I left Housing 2026 encouraged. The sector is not short of ideas or ambition. There is growing alignment around what good delivery looks like and a recognition that creating successful places requires collaboration, long-term thinking and the confidence to invest."
That sense of momentum has since been reinforced by Andy Burnham’s commitment to deliver a council housebuilding programme on a scale not seen since the post-war period, underpinned by his belief that “everything starts with a good home”.
It is a sentiment that closely reflects one of the clearest messages from the conference: housing is not simply a development output, but essential social infrastructure.
The opportunity now is to translate that ambition into viable schemes, safer and better homes, and places that deliver lasting value for the communities they serve.