Building a better future together
As a social landlord, we are uniquely placed to help address misconceptions about housing allocations to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Here we take a deeper look at some commonly heard statements and see whether they’re true or false.
Migrants are any people who move, usually across an international border. Refugees are people who are forced to flee to save their lives or preserve their freedom. An asylum seeker is a person who isn’t yet recognised as a refugee, as they are waiting for a decision on their asylum claim.
Many local authorities have ‘local connection’ rules which favour longstanding residents when allocating housing. New migrants arriving in the UK are only eligible for social housing in limited circumstances and foreign nationals account for only 10% of new lettings made by social landlords. In all cases, housing will be allocated based on housing need.
The housing crisis is due to many factors, particularly a lack of new homes being built. Since its peak in 2022, migration has fallen and the gap between housing supply and demand is so big that even if migration stopped completely, new house building would still fall short of what’s needed.
Migrants have regular document checks, face lots of legal obstacles and have to pay large fees. This affects all migrants and sometimes even British citizens, such as those who don’t have passports.
The housing provided for asylum seekers is not the same as social housing. Asylum seekers can’t get council housing, and most aren’t allowed to work. They get £49 per week to pay for food and all their expenses. Asylum seekers who are eventually accepted as refugees are eligible for social housing but have to meet the same eligibility criteria as all other applicants.
It’s important to bear in mind that new house building, care services and many other parts of the economy depend heavily on migrant workers.
Connect stands firmly against racism and discrimination in all its forms. We aim to ensure our customers, as well as our colleagues, feel safe, respected, and valued. This means we have a zero tolerance approach to any form of hate incident.
To combat racism, discrimination, and abuse please:
- Report all incidents of hate crime. In an emergency, call 999; otherwise, report it through the police website.
- Listen to people’s experiences and perspectives with an open mind.
- Don’t minimise or excuse harmful behaviours.
For more information on Connect Housing’s approach to equality, diversity and inclusion visit our EDI page or contact us at hello@connecthousing.org.uk.
