New council houses are to be built for asylum seekers in a push to end the use of hotels and private landlords.
200 local authorities have already indicated an interest in the UK Government pilot scheme that would fund the building of new properties or the refurbishment of derelict housing to make room for asylum seekers.
The Government has pledged £100million towards the scheme and figures suggest the funding would be able to deliver 900 new homes.
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Not surprisingly, intense public backlash is expected
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The Mail Online reports: Five councils – Brighton and Hove, Hackney, Peterborough, Thanet, and Powys – have confirmed they are keen to take part in the scheme.
However, the proposals are expected to spark fury among the public, many of whom are sitting on long waiting lists for council housing themselves.
Last year, 1.3 million people were on social housing waiting lists across England – a 3 per cent increase on 2023 and the highest number since 2014.
Yet supply is not meeting demand, with 20,560 social homes lost in 2023/2024, primarily through Right to Buy sales and demolitions.
England will sell off more than eight times as many council homes in 2025/26 as were constructed the previous year, research has found.
Official figures show there are 36,000 asylum seekers in hotels and around 71,000 in ‘dispersal’ accommodation in the private rented sector.
With a Home Office report identifying billions of pounds ‘squandered’ on asylum accommodation, left-wing council leaders have insisted this scheme will provide savings for the taxpayer.
Bella Sankey, leader of Labour-run Brighton and Hove City Council, told the I paper that the current system of housing asylum seekers is seeing taxpayers’ money ‘creamed off for handsome profits by private companies’.
The cost of the contracts awarded to Serco, Clearsprings and Mears between 2019 and 2029, to lease hotels and landlords’ homes, has tripled from £4.5billion to £15.3billion, according to figures from the National Audit Office.
Ms Sankey said: ‘Owning more of our own housing, housing that can be used much more flexibly in future, would be a win-win’.
