Reform criticised for ‘stoking division’ over plan to prioritise British-born young workers for social housing
“The only way to address this crisis is to deliver social homes, not tinker with the system to exclude people.”
Reform has been criticised for “stoking division” over its plan to prioritise British workers for social housing, while putting foreign-born citizens and unemployed people further down the waiting list.
The hard-right party has said that as well as British-born workers, it will also prioritise former military service personnel and married couples with children.
While Reform has focused on barring foreign nationals from social housing, most migrants are already unable to access it.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government wrote a blog post earlier this year, in which it said that nearly nine in ten social homes go to UK nationals and most councils have tough local rules in place to allocate housing.
At a press conference today, Reform said that having Indefinite Leave to Remain is not the same as being a British-born citizen.
He argued that people from abroad, even if they have settled status, shouldn’t expect to be “heavily subsidised by the local taxpayers of that country”.
What Tice did not mention, however, is that migrants with the right to work in the UK pay taxes, just like British-born citizens.
Francesca Albanese, Director of Policy and Social Change at Crisis, said: “These plans will not deliver the number of social homes needed to fix Britain’s housing crisis. Instead, they risk stoking division and scapegoating people who are already facing housing insecurity.
Albanese added: “It’s almost impossible for non-UK nationals to access social housing, with official figures showing that the vast majority of social tenants are UK citizens. The idea that people can simply come to this country and be given a social home is untrue.”
She continued: “Excluding people from social housing because they are out of work would mean turning away older people, disabled people and carers. Nearly half of households moving into a social home include someone with a long-term illness or disability.
“The only way to address this crisis is to deliver social homes, not tinker with the system to exclude people.”
Reacting to the proposals, Sarah Elliott, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Designed to stoke division, these plans will only serve to disrupt the lives of thousands of families, tear communities apart, and put even more people at risk of homelessness.
“Putting nationality and employment ahead of housing need, and moving away from a system designed to prioritise people who are homeless or at urgent risk of homelessness could leave even more families trapped in awful temporary accommodation for years on end.
“We need politicians to stop scoring cheap political points and get on with building the 90,000 social rent homes a year for the next ten years that we desperately need.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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