The Conservative Party has unveiled plans to strip foreign nationals of their right to social housing in the UK, a move that has been widely condemned as "divisive." The proposal, announced on Friday, would free up around 230,000 homes for British families.
Key details of the proposal
Under the plans, tenants who do not qualify for social housing would be required to move out within six months. Currently, foreign nationals with settled status, refugee status, or specific humanitarian protections are eligible for social housing. Asylum seekers are generally not eligible, except in exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases.
The policy would affect any single person living in social housing who is not a UK, Irish, or EU citizen, including those with children. EU citizens with settled status would not be evicted. For future tenancies, UK nationals and those with EU settled status would remain eligible, but new EU citizens without settled status would not.
Reactions from charities and unions
Shelter's chief executive, Sarah Elliott, said: "These divisive plans would brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades. And let’s not forget that social tenants pay rent, which goes back to the public purse and into society. It is completely senseless to ruin people’s lives, drive up homelessness and put extreme pressure on councils. This policy does nothing to deliver new social homes, which is what we desperately need."
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) also voiced concerns. An RCN spokesperson said: "The worst thing in the world would be to cause serious housing worry for a workforce that keeps our services running, posing serious risk to patient care. Those advocating for them need to offer reassurances – and quickly – or explain why it is just that some of our most brilliant nursing staff may face housing insecurity."
Political responses
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately defended the plan, saying: "Making Britain your home should be earned by working, paying tax and integrating. It should not come with a free ride on the benefits system. Britain cannot be a cash machine for the world. Labour has lost control of immigration and lost control of the welfare bill, and it is British families picking up the bill and sitting on waiting lists. The next Conservative government will make foreign nationals ineligible for social housing. Nearly 230,000 homes could go to British families."
A Labour Party spokesperson responded: "This is an unserious, unworkable proposal, copied from Reform, that does nothing to tackle the housing crisis the Tories themselves created."
Data on social housing
According to the English Housing Survey for 2024/25, 88.5% of main householders in social housing were UK or Irish nationals, while 11.5% were non-UK/Irish nationals. There are an estimated 470,000 non-UK and non-Irish citizens living in social housing.
