Greater Manchester Police have confirmed that since October 5, there have been 38 incidents of criminal damage to properties across Salford, with the attacks being treated as linked. The perpetrators are believed to be targeting HMOs, or properties that have been mistaken for HMOs.
Among the targets are a shared home understood to belong to a group of young women, most of them NHS nurses and care workers; a family home where a 'white Salford lad' is believed to be living with his brother; and a flat housing a group of young Sudanese refugees. Properties have been trashed, cars have been attacked, and on the evening of October 13, a severed pig's head was left outside a home and a family's front window was smashed up.
Family home attacked in Little Hulton
One family in Little Hulton, a dad who didn't wish to be named, his wife, and their two young sons aged four and two, were attacked on Tuesday, October 13. A brick was hurled through their living room window while the father was reading a book in the room. The children were asleep upstairs.
"We want to get out of here," he said. "It feels unsafe. We've lived here for a year and had no issues, until now. The police say they're targeting HMOs, but this isn't a HMO. It's me and my wife, we have two small kids."
A row of houses 'believed to be HMOs' have been vandalised in Salford, with graffiti reading 'NO HMOS, NO, NO' and 'Send them back' scrawled on properties. The family's home was covered in black graffiti, and a bloodstain was left where a pig's head was placed outside someone's front door.
Who is behind the attacks?
The perpetrators are thought to be young. Police arrested a 13-year-old boy last week, who has since been released on bail. Witnesses described seeing groups of 'four or five teenagers in balaclavas on bikes' vandalising the homes.
A senior teacher at a Salford school, speaking anonymously, said: "I do think there's an element of gang culture and criminal exploitation in this. It is in effect another form of grooming. On one level, it works on a human network level in terms of: here's a little something, go and sell this to your mates. And here is a little something else. And oh, look, now you're in debt to me. The county lines model."
Councillor Mike McCusker, the council's deputy city mayor, compared the situation to the riots in Lanark Way in Ireland in 2021, where it was later alleged young people were pressured into participating in riots by the paramilitary through intimidation over drug debts.
Far right influencers and citizen journalists
Ashlea Simon, a former co-leader of the far-right group Britain First who now belongs to the anti-immigration group 'All For England', has posted YouTube 'tours' of streets in Kersal, rattling off addresses where she claims migrants are being housed. She makes no call to action in these films, but some of the HMOs featured have since become targets of vandalism.
Other content creators, including 'Cozzy Media' and 'Struggle for the Streets', have shared videos documenting the destruction or doing 'tours' of HMOs, pointing out how close primary schools are to these properties. Struggle for the Streets has described each incident as 'Migrant HMOs', though many of the properties are neither HMOs nor house 'migrants'.
Councillor Mike McCusker said: "There's been a set up that's led to this - filming outside possible HMOs, coupled with the national rhetoric about that you see from far right political groups on a national level about HMO." Another local politician added: "I do think it's become a bit of a feedback loop. People like Ashlea Simon have a lot to answer for. And then you've got other 'auditors' putting out videos. If you look at the comments underneath, there are a lot of people egging on the vandalism. It becomes an echo chamber."
Ashlea Simon refused to condemn people 'acting out' when their concerns regarding mass immigration go 'ignored'. She said: "What we're seeing in Salford is a direct result of our communities being flooded with third world immigrants who do not belong here. Salfordians are a strong and proud people who will not allow native replacement.. my videos and activism serve to give them the voice that politicians refuse to give them."
Cozzy Media described his account as an independent media page, telling the M.E.N. he is merely a journalist reporting on 'smashed windows'. When asked about his comments regarding allowing family members near HMOs, he said: "My words [were] I wouldn't want my daughter's school facing [an HMO], I'd move her. I wouldn't want my daughter walking past any house with a group of men I didn't know, no matter nationality."
Struggle for the Streets described the accusation that he and similar pages were responsible for any of the violence as 'unfair'. He said: "I am just reporting on situations that are happening local to me, the same as you [the M.E.N.] do yourselves. All I have done is record what is going on, to say that I have contributed to this is a complete lie."
A massive demographic shift
Salford has seen a massive demographic shift, growing at almost three times the rate of the rest of the country in the last decade, with a significant portion of that growth coming from immigration. At the same time, economic growth has not been shared with the most deprived communities. The average household income in some parts of Salford is £27k, while rents and property prices have sky-rocketed at an even faster rate than in Manchester.
One Walkden resident said: "I do think it's linked. It's become the most unaffordable place to live. I believe people are being priced out of apartments. HMOs obviously aren't ideal but they're a space that people are having to turn to, particularly as young professionals, because they can't afford anything else. So there are a lot of them, and people feel the character of their neighbourhood is changing because of that."
A member of the community in Kersal said: "They do have frustrations 'round here. Salford is really low in terms of employment so they're pointing the finger towards the last wave of immigration and demographic change. Things are boiling over, and then you have people stirring the pot like Tommy Robinson."
Last year, Louise Calvey from Asylum Matters warned that HMOs could become a target for anti-migrant activists as rumours circulated that HMOs were housing migrants - even when they weren't. She told the Guardian: "This anger around HMOs, this fearmongering around HMOs, risks hate crime against all racialised people."
One resident said: "This has always been an area with a lot of tensions. There's a street culture 'round here, because there's a lack of development and opportunities. You survive by keeping a low profile. Right now, it feels unsafe, because it feels like they could end up attacking anyone who's black. People spread a rumour about you online, and the next night someone smashes your window in, so you move away."
There's so much anger around
Resident Frank Aldred, 83, said: "I can't say I agree with what they are doing. But something has to be done [about immigration], as it bugs people. It's anger. It's not just here, it's everywhere. All over the country. There's so much anger around. This government is doing nothing about the people that are coming in, especially on boats."
Councillor Ivan Voronov, leader of Salford's Reform UK group, has publicly condemned the criminal damage but said he is not entirely surprised by it. He said: "There have been instances where Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) have become hotbeds of criminal activity. Dismissing residents' legitimate concerns about safety as being driven by racism, hatred or other blanket accusations does nothing to ease tensions."
He criticised the council's handling of a protest in Irlam and Cadishead, when a group called 'Irlam and Cadishead Say NO to Migrant HMOs' hung banners that read 'No Migrant HMOs'. Councillor Hannah Robinson-Smith described them as 'a new hate group' and said the banners were 'sharing misinformation, racist rhetoric, and hatred'. The banners were later removed by the council, who stated they had 'serious concerns' they were 'highly likely to spread misinformation and escalate cohesion issues in communities'.
Irlam and Cadishead Say NO to Migrant HMOs has expressly distanced itself from the violence, stating: "We DO NOT condone any criminal damage, vandalism, or hate—and we never have."
All they're doing is terrorising the community
But the vast majority of locals across Salford have made it clear they don't support what is happening. A hospitality worker in Little Hulton said: "It's a group of nasty, small-minded people trying to make a point by smashing things up, but I don't even know what that point is. All they're doing is terrorising the community and scaring innocent families. It's really disgusting."
She added: "I live next to a HMO. It's five lads of South Asian heritage, they all work - taxi drivers, delivery drivers, and such. They're the best neighbours I've ever had. Now they want to move out. Who knows who'll move in instead?"
Another Little Hulton local said: "It feels like it's spreading like a wildfire. I think social media is heavily to blame, but they're attacking the wrong people. Some of the houses aren't even HMOs - it's just homes with brown people living in it. It's scary, because my dad's a different colour to me. I do sit in my gaff at night thinking - better draw those curtains tight."
A man with a large England flag draped in his window on Manchester Road East said: "But I condemn this violence. I'm an army vet, I've seen too much violence in my lifetime, things I'll never unsee. This isn't the way to get your point across."
We're appealing for calm
GMP are continuing their response and investigation, including trawling local CCTV and mounting local patrols across Salford. They are also continuing to monitor social media coverage of the issue as they work to establish facts.
Chief Inspector Lee Gridley, lead for neighbourhoods in Salford, said: "This spate of offending is being treated with the seriousness it deserves. No one should be made to feel unsafe in their own home and it's not something that will be tolerated in Salford, or anywhere in Greater Manchester. Officers will be on patrol across Salford throughout this week and I'd urge anyone who is worried about this offending to speak to them."
Salford Council are continuing to work with police. Coun Bentham said: "The council doesn't own HMOs. Most of them are privately owned, and it's down to landlords to decide who they put in them. There's an absolute need for HMOs in Salford because young people, in particular those under 30, if they're on benefits they only get single room rent for their local housing allowance - that's not enough to rent a property. We have a very large student population, with many international students who are away from home for the first time. Everybody's got a right to feel safe in their own home. If people are not happy with things that are beyond our control in Salford, let's get around a table and talk about it. You don't need to damage property. We can't condone criminal activity when there's legitimate places for people to air their differences. We're setting up meetings in areas across the city that have been affected to speak to people. We're appealing for calm and if anybody does have any information at all, please reach out to GMP."
