Building on the successful delivery of the group’s original £200m commitment launched in 2024, the finance is designed to help smaller housing associations and specialist providers access long-term capital to deliver and maintain social and affordable homes across the UK. This comes as UK housing providers continue to face financial pressures alongside sustained demand for affordable housing.

In total, the initial £200m announced in 2024 is expected to increase the UK affordable housing supply in the UK by around 900 new homes, with developments across the UK including Shropshire, the Black Country, Ayrshire, Orkney and Berwickshire.

The extended £500m commitment could boost this by a further 2,000 homes.

Launched in 2024, the initiative was created to develop practical and scalable solutions to challenges facing the UK housing sector, with a particular focus on increasing the delivery of social and affordable homes, led by Charlie Nunn, group chief executive officer.

Since launch, the initiative has helped incubate and support a range of ideas and partnerships across the sector, including backing for the Small Sites Aggregator model. The successful initial pilot in Bristol, Lewisham and Sheffield will now be rolled out nationally, with government indicating the model could support up to 10,000 homes annually.

Charlie Nunn said: “Small and specialist housing providers are uniquely connected to communities across the country, and our new £500 million commitment will boost their impact and delivery for those most in need. 

“There is no single solution to the housing challenge but, with greater cross-sector collaboration as we’ve seen through the Social Housing Initiative, we can generate the finance, ideas and partnerships required to increase the supply of genuinely affordable homes.”