Housing organisations blast plans for ‘British homes for British workers’
A coalition of 17 housing organisations have written an open letter to the Prime Minister and housing secretary voicing acute concerns about reported plans to introduce a ‘British homes for British workers’ social housing policy.
Most foreigners in the UK are already barred from accessing social housing, and reforms introduced under Gordon Brown mean that councils can factor in local connections, and the time already spent living in the area, when prioritising social housing applications.
But reports have suggested the government is planning to either tighten the rules or introduce new rules in order to make it harder for foreign nationals to secure social housing, despite the vast majority of new social tenancies going to UK nationals already.
The letter, authored by the Chartered Institute of Housing, was co-signed by organisations including the National Housing Federation, the Local Government Association, Shelter and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.
The letter states: ‘We all deserve safe housing, regardless of where we are from. Further rationing of an already scarce resource does not address the fundamental failures of the last 40 years – we have simply not built the homes the UK needs to ensure everybody has a safe and secure place to live. At the same time, we’ve seen net losses of social rented homes grow – exceeding 200,000 since 2011 – mainly due to right to buy.’
It adds: ‘Social housing is designed to support those in the greatest need. Government data shows that 90% of new social housing lettings go to UK nationals, with long waiting lists in all areas. Imposing extended qualification periods before people can even get on the housing register is likely to force more people into homelessness. If the government’s main concern is to increase the availability of social lettings, it could achieve this far more effectively by building more social housing.’
Under current rules, local housing authorities are meant to decide social housing allocation based on need, giving priority to those who are homeless or living in overcrowded or squalid conditions. Refugees are allowed to claim social housing, but anyone who is not entitled to benefits is not, meaning most foreigners in the UK are already excluded.
Gavin Smart, chief executive at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: ‘It’s hard to comment on speculative policy but we are entrenched in a housing crisis and focusing on the wrong policies will not alleviate the escalating situation.
‘We’ve currently got 1.4 million people on the social housing waiting list and it’s growing by the day. Homelessness is at record levels and councils are struggling with the cost of rising temporary accommodation. We urgently need to increase the supply of social rented homes – that means building more and reducing the loss generated by policies such as right to buy.
‘Further rationing of an already scarce resource does not address this. And with government data showing that 90 percent of new lettings in social housing go to UK nationals it’s questionable whether the new approach suggested would achieve its intended aims.
‘We urge the government to focus efforts on housing solutions to boost supply. We’re committed to working with them on this – building on our collective calls for a genuine long-term plan for housing.’
Matt Downie, chief executive at Crisis, added: ‘These plans will do absolutely nothing to deliver the levels of social housing we need and only seek to pin the blame on a group of people in desperate need of support.
‘The government knows full well that councils already have strict rules in place so that only UK citizens and those with settled status can access a home. It also knows that the reason why waiting lists for social housing have topped 1.2 million is because of successive governments failure to build them.
‘What we need is reasonable, sensible solutions to the housing crisis that must involve a plan to deliver 90,000 social homes every year. Exclusionary tactics will not see us end homelessness for good.’
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