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Resources and support for small builders
We've pulled together a summary of support available for small developers, housing associations, community-led housing organisations and self-builders.
Organisations are listed here to help with your own research, and does not mean a GLA endorsement.
Affordable housing
- The Mayor’s Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 provides £4bn worth of Government funding to help housing associations, community groups, and private developers build new affordable homes in London. This funding is expected to support starts on site between 2021 and 2026, with completions expected by 2028 for most projects with some strategic sites completing in 2029.
- The G320 group of London’s smaller Housing Associations may be able to take on the management and ownership of affordable housing in small developments, as well as being directly involved in development.
Community-led housing
The Mayor is supporting the new Community-led Housing London Hub. This will be closely coordinated with our programme for small sites.
Community-led organisations can also get help and support from national bodies in the Community-led Housing Alliance such as:
London Community-Led Housing (CLH) Accelerator
The Community-Led-Housing (CLH) Accelerator project is a pilot programme led by Archio Architects in partnership with Be First (London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's regeneration company), and Community-Led Housing London (CLH) London.
The Small Sites Small Builders programme (SSSB) funded the project to develop and "accelerate" the process of community-led-housing delivery.
As part of it, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham released four sites for community-led housing in March 2024.
Community engagement is a key part of capacity building and raises awareness of the land disposals. By developing the capacity of local residents through collaborative workshops, the project leads were able to articulate the benefits of CLH to internal and external audiences and provide a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) against which the CLH programme can be measured.
This project has now concluded. Read the reports below to find out more about its outputs:
Self-build advice and finance
- The Self Build portal is for individuals or groups looking to take on the development of their own homes
- Build It includes a list of self-build mortgages to help with the cost of buying a site and carrying out construction
- Sign up to the GLA’s self-build register to help local authorities assess demand for self-build.
Development finance
- The Government’s Home Building Fund offers loan finance for private sector organisations building new homes, including community-led housing organisations.
- The Housing Growth Partnership is a government equity finance scheme backed by Lloyds Banking Group and the Homes and Communities Agency.
These bodies should be able to help you find commercial finance for development:
- UK Finance
- National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers
- Association of Short Term Lenders
- Financial Intermediary & Broker Association (FIBA)
- Development Finance Today has an Index of Lenders.
‘Social impact lenders’ work closely with community-led housing bodies and affordable housing providers. They include:
Planning and utilities
- The Planning Portal has support, information and advice on all stages of the planning process.
- It can be a good idea to contact the local planning department and ask for pre-application advice, although fees may be associated with this.
- Better Connected is a practical guide to utilities for home builders with advice on what to expect from utility providers and how to get the best result.
Training, development, and business support
- The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) helps with training, including grants and funding for apprenticeships.
- The London Growth Hub includes several general business support programmes.
Professional bodies may be able to outline parts of the development process and help find professionals:
Further land opportunities
- The Government Property Finder lists other Government land in several sizes, available for sale on a variety of terms.
- And of course there are a range of agents and auctions marketing sites.
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