Amplius Secures £320.5 Million From Homes England to Deliver 2,500 Affordable Homes

Amplius has secured £320.5 million in government funding through Homes England's Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) to deliver 2,500 new affordable homes across England, the housing association announced Aug. 25.

The allocation positions Amplius as one of 33 Homes England Strategic Partners receiving funding in the initial wave of SAHP commitments. The programme forms part of a wider £39 billion national investment in social and affordable housing spanning 2026 to 2036 — a scale of commitment the government and sector bodies have described as the largest of its kind in a generation.

Programme Scale and Funding Structure

Homes England has confirmed £9.58 billion in SAHP allocations to 33 providers outside London in the initial funding tranche. Amplius's £320.5 million represents approximately 3.3% of that total, positioning the group as a mid-sized but material recipient consistent with its operational scale.

At the headline level, the grant implies an average of roughly £128,200 per unit across the 2,500-home pipeline, though actual per-unit grant levels will vary by tenure type — including social rent, affordable rent, and shared ownership — and by individual scheme characteristics.

The SAHP is structured to deliver at least 300,000 homes over the programme period, with a minimum of 60% — or 180,000 homes — designated for social rent. Strategic Partners such as Amplius receive multi-year allocations and are subject to minimum thresholds for starts and completions.

Marcus Keys, Chief Development and Commercial Officer at Amplius, said the funding would allow the organisation to advance multiple projects simultaneously. "We have an ambitious development programme which aims to deliver 1,000 homes per year, and this funding will help us to bring several projects forward and start building the homes people need in the communities we serve," Keys said.

"With the confirmation of this funding, we'll also be able to maintain the momentum we've got and continue to build much-needed affordable housing at scale. Our bid involved lots of work from many colleagues across the organisation, so to be awarded the full amount we bid for is really positive news and something we're really pleased about."

Amplius's Development Capacity and Operating Model

Amplius was formed through the merger of Longhurst Group and Grand Union Housing Group, combining two established housing associations into a larger delivery platform. The group reached a milestone of 40,000 homes under management within nine months of completing the merger.

The organisation has set a strategic target of building around 1,000 homes per year. A 2025 operational update recorded handovers of approximately 80 new homes per month, annualising to roughly 960 units. At that delivery rate, the SAHP grant effectively underwrites approximately 2.5 years of development output, while also providing capacity to scale beyond the 1,000-unit annual target as new schemes are brought forward.

Amplius focuses its development activity across a core geography of 15 local authorities, delivering mixed-tenure affordable communities. The group is also investing tens of millions of pounds in energy efficiency upgrades, targeting EPC C ratings across its portfolio by 2030 through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund.

Sector Context: Demand, Viability, and Policy Alignment

The SAHP funding arrives at a point of acute demand for affordable housing. Households on council waiting lists reached a 10-year high of 1.34 million in 2025, reflecting persistent supply shortfalls across England.

At the same time, the financial capacity of housing associations to self-fund development has come under pressure. The Regulator of Social Housing has reported sector-wide EBITDA MRA interest cover falling to 91% in 2024/25, with recovery above 100% not forecast until 2027/28. Elevated build costs and higher interest rates have further constrained viability for schemes without grant support.

The SAHP's design — including long-term multi-year allocations and a 10-year rent settlement of CPI plus 1% — is intended to strengthen providers' financial capacity to build at scale despite those headwinds. For Amplius and other Strategic Partners, the grant backstop enables pipeline acceleration that would otherwise be difficult to justify on balance-sheet terms alone.

Homes England Chief Executive Amy Rees said the demand for SAHP funding reflected the sector's broader ambition. "The strong demand for SAHP funding demonstrates the sector's ambition to deliver as part of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to come together, alongside partners funded through the programme's alternative Continuous Market Engagement (CME) route, to deliver thousands of social and affordable homes for people, families and communities across England," Rees said.

"Our team is absolutely focused on working in close collaboration with our partners alongside regional leaders, mayors and the sector to deliver on government policy and ensure this investment supports the creation of high-quality homes and thriving places that people want and need."

Outlook

The national government has set a target of 1.5 million new homes by 2030, implying approximately 300,000 completions per year — roughly 40% above current delivery rates. Grant-backed affordable housing development has emerged as one of the more active segments of the UK construction market, even as private sector residential activity remains constrained by cost and financing pressures.

For Amplius, the SAHP allocation provides a defined funding runway through which to execute its development strategy, with the organisation stating it expects to maintain and build upon its current delivery momentum across its operating regions.

Sources: Amplius