The government has pledged new legislation to increase long-term investment in social housing, with measures aimed at protecting existing stock and supporting the building of new social rented homes.
The Social Housing Renewal bill was one of the key social policies announced in the King’s Speech 2026, with the main aims to protect existing social housing stock, provide greater protections for social housing tenants affected by domestic abuse, and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy for housing providers.
The government said the Bill would help address long-term shortages in social housing while giving councils and affordable housing providers more confidence to build.
According to the official document, social housing accounts for around 16% of households in England, and is home to a large proportion of vulnerable groups, including households with long-term illness or disability and those in the lowest income quintile.
The briefing also presented the scale of housing pressure, with more than 175,000 children living in temporary accommodation, while more than 1.3 million households are on local authority waiting lists for social housing.
The Government also points to the impact of domestic abuse on homelessness. In 2024–25, 39,410 households were considered homeless, or threatened with homelessness, where the loss of their last settled home was linked to domestic abuse.
Under the proposed Bill, measures would increase protections for social housing tenants who are victims of domestic abuse, allowing them to remain in their property away from an abuser or move to suitable alternative accommodation.
The Bill also includes changes to the “Right to Buy” scheme. The briefing notes say many homes sold through Right to Buy have not been replaced, reducing available stock and limiting councils’ confidence to build. Proposed measures include increasing the eligibility requirement to 10 years and exempting newly built social housing from sale for 35 years.
The Government says the legislation will support its wider plan to deliver a “decade of renewal” for social and affordable housing.
The Bill will now move through Parliament, where MPs and peers are expected to examine whether the proposed measures go far enough to address housing insecurity, temporary accommodation and long waiting lists.
