Brits will get public housing in the first place, not migrants

These steps are part of Rishi Sunak's quest to tackle the small boat crisis. Credit: YUI MOK

UK citizens Under plans being considered by the government, priority is given to council housing over migrants.

Ministers are considering a new law later this year that would put citizens and permanent residents to the top of the waiting list.

The move, first reported by The Times, comes as Rishi Sunak tries to allay voters' fears about the fallout from the small boat crisis.

Officers aim to push the law in this king's speech fall, but want to make sure there are no unintended consequences.

In particular, they want to ensure that refugees who arrive by legal means, such as the resettlement scheme in Ukraine, are not affected.

A source told The Times: “Social housing is a finite resource, so it would be right if we look at what else we can do to make sure UK citizens get local priority as housing becomes available.”

“The UK will always welcome the economic contribution of legal migrants to this country, but they should not be allowed to skip the waiting list for social housing.”

In the UK, about 1.2 million families are waiting for social housing, about one in 10 houses , which are made available to non-UK citizens.

In some parts of London, this proportion is as high as 40 percent.

At 2,605 border crossings

Oxford, Milton Keynes, Manchester, Coventry and Birmingham a large number of such houses pass to people born abroad.

According to current regulations, foreigners who have received an indefinite residence permit are entitled to be placed on a waiting list, just like refugees.

The existing recommendations say that people must live in the area for at least two years before they can qualify for social housing.

Discussions on the new law, which are at an early stage, have focused on giving priority to the British. instead of denying migrants access to such homes.

Existing safeguards for some of society's most vulnerable groups , such as veterans and victims of domestic violence, will be saved as planned.

This idea was discussed earlier and proposed by poverty king David Cameron in 2012, but was subsequently abandoned.

Frank Field, a former Labor MP recruited to serve as a government adviser, described the number of transfers of social housing to migrants as a «scandal».

He said taxpayer-funded housing should go to «those citizens Those who have contributed the most to society, paid their taxes and whose children have not caused trouble, for example, will have the first choice of any available housing.”

Shelter, a charity for the homeless, criticized the government's plans to revise the policy and said ministers should build more new social homes instead.

Polly Neath, her chief executive, said: losers, including homeless families with children who have every right to be here, and those fleeing war in places like Ukraine.

“This policy comes down to admitting that the government has not built enough social housing.”