The Conservative Party's plan to ban non-UK nationals from social housing has been condemned as 'cruel' and 'scapegoating' by Shelter's chief executive, Sarah Elliott. Writing for the Mirror, Elliott warned the policy would tear thousands of people from their homes and increase homelessness.
Plan details
The Tories announced on Thursday they would ban non-UK nationals from social homes to 'free up' a supposed 228,144 homes for British families, and evict existing tenants who are not UK or EU nationals. Elliott noted that strict eligibility rules already exist, and social homes are not simply handed out to people on arrival.
Many families targeted by the scheme have lived in the UK for years or decades, having settled and built lives. They are friends, neighbours, and colleagues who work and pay into the system, Elliott said. If rolled out, the plan would give affected tenants just six months to secure alternative housing, putting many at risk of homelessness.
Financial impact
Those evicted would not disappear from the system but would be forced into expensive private renting, where rents have soared out of reach of local incomes. Social rents average about a third of private rents, and many would rely on housing benefit or face homelessness. Councils already spend billions on temporary accommodation.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said social homes should not be a 'free ride on the benefits system' and that 'Britain cannot be a cash machine for the world'. However, Elliott argued the plan would pile more costs on to cash-strapped councils and public services, not save taxpayer money.
Scapegoating and housing shortage
Elliott called the plan 'scapegoating, plain and simple', aimed at distracting from the root cause of the housing emergency: a dire shortage of social rent homes. Last year, only 12,000 social rent homes were built, just 13% of the 90,000 needed annually to end the emergency.
There are 1.3 million households on social housing waiting lists in England, stuck due to political failure to build, not migration. Elliott highlighted that in 1967, 46% of new homes in England were for social rent, with 97% delivered by councils. She urged the government to deliver on the Prime Minister's vision of the 'biggest council house-building programme since the post-war period'.
