Aerial photo of a typical British housing estate in the village of Middleton in Leeds West Yorkshire in the UK, showing a top down drone view of suburban streets, roads and rows of mostly red brick houses. The sky is blue and cloudy

What we’re doing now

We want to influence systemic changes to the housing system by supporting, testing and evidencing solutions for increasing the availability of decent affordable homes for people in need. We influence for positive change to policy and practice by funding the right charitable causes and providing evidence to persuade key change-makers.

The Decent Affordable Homes strategy began in 2013 and we remain deeply committed to it today. Since its inception, the strategy has progressed in phases: the first ran from 2013-2016; phase two from 2016-2022; and in 2022 the Nationwide Foundation entered its third phase, which it continued to focus on up to spring 2025.

What phase are we in now?

The year ahead (2025/26) will be a transitional year between phase three and phase four of our strategy.

Development work for phase four has commenced and key themes and principles are emerging, which build on our work to date and include some established areas of knowledge and expertise. Our strategy development process will include consulting with stakeholders, including many of our funded partners. 

We anticipate launching phase four of the Decent Affordable Homes strategy in early summer 2026. Until then, any new funding arrangements we make will be to both deepen our impact in some areas of our current strategy and explore some of the emerging themes for the next stage of our strategy. This funding will be by invitation only.  

In the coming months and years, the Foundation’s work will focus on the people and communities disproportionately impacted by housing inequality; progressing its work as a leading voice and providing evidence of good practice in the private rented sector; and piloting new models to support affordability and better health in housing. Over this time, the Foundation will: 

  • Convene coalitions to bring together different voices and call for change 
  • Invest in pioneering research 
  • Build an evidence base to hold the nation’s governments to account and offer solutions 
  • Test new ideas to build understanding of what works 
  • Build new narratives to support positive behaviour change in housing 

 

 

 

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