A new government pilot scheme to house asylum seekers in converted council properties has sparked fierce backlash from residents in towns across England, who argue that struggling locals are being overlooked.
Local Anger Over Housing Priorities
The Home Office has earmarked £100 million for an initiative that would see local authorities purchase or refurbish properties to accommodate asylum seekers currently living in hotels. The properties would revert to council use after a decade. However, for people like Roger Lucas, a 59-year-old vintage scooter shop owner in Margate, the plan feels like a betrayal.
"My sister is homeless, and she can't find a place to live," Lucas told the Mail. "The houses should be for local people - this is wrong." His sister has been on a council housing waiting list for over two years.
Thanet District Council, which covers Margate, is one of five councils—alongside Peterborough, Brighton and Hove, Hackney, and Powys—to have expressed interest in the scheme. As of May last year, Thanet had a waiting list of 1,904 households needing rehousing.
A Crisis at Breaking Point
Across England, 1.3 million people were on social housing waiting lists last year, the highest number since 2014. In Margate, locals describe a homelessness crisis where veterans sleep in tents or under bus shelters.
Jane Burges, 63, who owns an antique store, said homeless people often camp outside her shop. "I feel quite strongly that local people should get priority housing," she stated. Caroline, 62, recounted how someone she knew had to travel 43 miles to Chatham for emergency accommodation because nothing was available locally.
The sentiment is echoed in Peterborough. Resident Terrence Paling, 74, said his granddaughter, who has a three-year-old child, has been waiting for a house for three years. "She isn't going to get one is she?" he asked. Peterborough City Council had 2,780 people on its housing waiting list as of September 2024.
Defence and Division
Supporters of the pilot present it as a necessary step to phase out the costly use of hotels for asylum seekers. However, the debate highlights deep divisions over resource allocation in communities already straining under pressure on public services.
Debbie Linnane, 68, a former NHS worker from Peterborough, revealed her husband, who has "paid taxes all his life," faces a three-year wait for knee surgery on the NHS and has been forced to go private. "We cannot get a doctor's appointment because the influx is too great," she said.
Not all residents oppose the scheme. Tony, a 52-year-old firefighter in Margate, said, "It's just very difficult isn't it. You've got a lot of everybody with no housing, but everyone should be looked after."
Paul Bristow, the Conservative Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, warned the policy would make people "incandescent." Labour councillor Zameer Ali said Peterborough already "does more than its capacity" and that no commitment to the pilot had been made.
A government spokesperson stated: "New council housing will not be used by asylum seekers under any circumstances. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing. This government will close every asylum hotel."
