By Mark Leaf, chief development officer at Strata
After a turbulent 2025, our business enters 2026 with a renewed sense of objective. Final yr pushed each a part of the market, from builders and native authorities, to planning groups and registered suppliers, to rethink the way in which we work. Whereas most of the challenges have been sudden, the response throughout the sector has been overwhelmingly constructive. A drive in the direction of innovation, partnership, and better requirements is now shaping the panorama for the longer term.
What did we be taught in 2025?
It’s no secret that 2025 was robust. The graduation and supply of latest houses stalled in locations the place delays to long run grant funding regime created a hiatus within the dedication to new websites with supply submit March 2028. Many inexpensive housing suppliers have been left unable to maneuver ahead, and that knock-on impact slowed planning throughout the board. On the identical time, open-market situations cooled and required a special strategy.
But one factor grew to become clear. The business’s underlying need to ship new top quality houses by no means wavered. As an alternative, it unlocked a stage of innovation we don’t often see in housebuilding. Companions got here collectively to search out options that stored schemes viable and mixed-tenure developments shifting.
For Strata, partnerships have all the time been a part of the long-term plan, however 2025 accelerated that technique. We broadened who we promote to, and labored extra creatively with registered suppliers and buyers to strengthen our proposition in shared possession, inexpensive housing, and single household housing. These new relationships have sustained development whereas making a extra balanced, resilient enterprise for the longer term.
Key developments to look at in 2026
1. Planning reform that lastly speeds issues up
A big shift will come from planning. With choices now commonly taking as much as two years, in comparison with simply 16 weeks seven years in the past, the system is overdue for reform. The present Invoice intends to chop this backlog and unlock assets inside planning groups.
If delivered as supposed, it will give companions larger certainty on deliverability and funding. For housing associations and native authorities, the flexibility to hit vital grant deadlines extra simply may very well be transformative. It additionally introduces the potential for longer-term prosperity planning reasonably than short-term firefighting.
2. Inexpensive housing demand will rise
Bulletins round social and inexpensive housing funding will proceed to play a defining position. We’re anticipating elevated demand not only for inexpensive models on open-market schemes, however for absolutely inexpensive and mixed-tenure developments. The sector’s urge for food for this sort of supply is robust, and the proper funding atmosphere may unlock elevated momentum.
3. Open-market uncertainty will proceed
Mortgage availability and rates of interest stay unpredictable. We noticed how shortly market confidence shifted in 2025, and it’s affordable to anticipate the identical volatility in 2026 except one thing radical modifications. Builders might want to keep agile, and mixed-tenure fashions will probably be a stabilising power as soon as once more.
4. Construct-to-rent will plateau
Single-family build-to-rent has grown quickly, however we anticipate a levelling-off. A number of elements will drive this together with slowing rental inflation, stronger tenant protections by way of the Renters’ Rights Act, and better tax burdens.
Shopping for could turn into extra engaging than renting for a lot of households, whereas investor urge for food may soften. This might scale back the amount of BTR housing, however it places larger worth on sturdy, long-term partnerships which provide top quality, sustainable houses to hire.
How can we put together for 2026?
Having a balanced, adaptable enterprise mannequin and a transparent plan to assist companions by way of these shifts is essential. Streamlining home varieties to satisfy rising rules and construct flexibility into specs, from off-gas heating options, power creation and battery storage, will allow companions to decide on what works for his or her communities.
By broadening buyer bases throughout personal patrons, buyers, and registered suppliers, we are able to preserve resilience in altering market situations. Deepening collaborations with housing associations and more and more working with native authorities and buyers to assist speed up supply ambitions can be essential.
2026 received’t be with out its challenges, however with renewed momentum in planning, clearer grant pathways, and a extra collaborative sector, it presents one of many strongest alternatives we’ve seen in years to speed up housing supply. At Strata, we’re able to play our half in making that occur.
