Reform UK has pledged to prioritise British-born workers under 35 when allocating social housing and to evict foreign nationals from the system. The party also said former military service personnel and married couples with children would be prioritised.
At a press conference on Monday (24 August), the party's deputy leader, Richard Tice, revealed plans to build 50,000 affordable social homes a year, which he says will require no new taxes or borrowing.
Reform's housing priorities
"There are now 1.3 million people waiting for social housing in Britain," the MP for Boston and Skegness said. "The vast majority of them do not have jobs."
"In terms of the social houses we have, less than half of households are in work and over half a million social homes are currently occupied by foreign nationals."
Mr Tice continued: "Meanwhile, young British men and women, who are working hard, can’t afford to move out of their family home, and when they do often find themselves sharing a house with strangers, with no realistic prospect of forming a family or getting on."
"It is time for us to prioritise young British workers, and that is what our policy is about."
Shelter criticises the plan
Housing charity Shelter has hit out at Reform's pledge, saying the solution to the social housing crisis is building more homes rather than "changing the order of the queue". A spokesperson for the charity said a change from strict rules already in place to allocate social housing based on who has the greatest need would put more people at risk of homelessness.
Sarah Elliott, the charity’s chief executive, told the Press Association (PA): "Reform’s plans to change how social housing is allocated are a blatant distraction from the real cause of the housing emergency, which is decades of political failure to build enough genuinely affordable social homes – not because any one group has had an unfair advantage."
"The solution is building more social homes, not changing the order of the queue."
She said Reform’s plans were "designed to stoke division" and would only serve to tear communities apart and put 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," Ms Elliott added. "Not to mention putting those escaping domestic abuse and violence at serious risk of harm."
"There are already strict rules on who can access social housing, and councils are legally required to prioritise people in greatest housing need." She urged politicians to focus on building 90,000 social rent homes a year for the next decade.
Statistics and political reactions
UK or Irish nationals made up 88.5% of main householders – the person in whose name the social home is rented – in 2024/25, while 11.5% were non-UK/Irish nationals, according to the English Housing Survey. There are an estimated 470,000 non-UK and non-Irish citizens living in social housing.
Reform UK estimates that 540,000 social homes are currently occupied by foreign nationals.
The Conservatives have said they would revoke the right of foreign nationals to social housing, and claim it would free up around 230,000 homes. The Tory plan would allow Irish citizens and some EU nationals to remain in social housing.
Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly accused Reform of trying to "catch up" with the Tories, while a spokesperson for Labour called Reform’s proposal "unserious and unworkable".
