Where will the refugees coming to the UK live?

[Meeklynamechanged]

In no way a goady thread, I fully support helping the people fleeing such horrid circumstances, but genuine question.. where will they live? Where do we put people?

Where I live we have people waiting 10 years for a council property. Most areas around the UK have a huge deficit in available housing that doesn't meet demand.

With so many families stuck in overcrowded hostels and B&B's, families of 5 in 1 bed flats, I can't see where all of the required the housing will come from?

Years ago when I lived in London, a local office block had been turned into temporary accommodation. There must be hundreds of offices sitting empty now that can be converted.

FFS. They are human. Just like you aspire to be

I don't aspire to be human, I just am. Please let's try and have a sensible discussion. Would you want a man who is a stranger living in your house?

@SmokedDuck

It may be, but isn't always the case that refugees are better off coming here to inadequacy housing. I've known of a few refugees who, though they really wanted to move to a place where they could live permanently and begin to build a life, they were in ok housing in an intermediate country. And were not at all happy to come here and be stuck in an inadequate place with bedbugs.

I'd also ask, if people are willing to give up their second bedroom to refugees, how about giving it up to people on the wait lists for housing?

I don't think people on the housing waitlists want to move permanently into someone's second bedroom. Refugees are temporary until permanent housing is sorted.

Over a million EU nationals left UK after Brexit so there should be room for 20,000 or so to enter. And it won't take long for Ms Patel to begin trying to chuck them out so don't be overly concerned.

@JackieCollinshasnoauthority

Wales. We've abolished right to buy, we're investing in social housing and we want to welcome refugees.

Yes, to an extent. Councils are asked to prepare for X number of refugees, and they are dispersed. Lots of planning goes into it, to keep from ghettoising or isolating.

There's lots of empty housing in this country. It's not always where people want to be - they'd agree to transfer to less favoured council waiting lists if it were. Most refugees arrive as asylum seekers and can't work for some years, so the attraction of city dwelling is more limited. Once they have the right to work, they've the right to rent or buy a house wherever they like as we all do

Solutions to homelessness and shelter for refugees are different. They're not competing problems. I mean if people thought solving London homelessness by shipping people to depopulated areas in Wales was a solution, I'm sure they'd have imposed it long ago.

I know many people who have come to the UK as refugees, not many of whom now live in social housing. They all have good jobs and incomes/businesses. Refugees will of course need help initially but many will be educated and also highly skilled or seeking education and will be not always require low income housing.
We are a rich country and can afford to and should be more building homes.

I'd also ask, if people are willing to give up their second bedroom to refugees, how about giving it up to people on the wait lists for housing?

Are you saying there’s a list of people who are on the council housing list but actually would be happy with having their whole family in one bedroom, sharing a kitchen, bathroom etc in someone else’s house? I had no idea there was such a thing, nor such people happy to give up their place on the list for permanent housing of their own, to share with strangers.

They are also lots of empty buildings that could be be converted to housing.

Buckingham Palace, Sandringham, Windsor, Balmoral, Kensington Palace etc etc - loads of spare rooms that lie empty most of the year. A great use for them

I'd also ask, if people are willing to give up their second bedroom to refugees, how about giving it up to people on the wait lists for housing?

People on the wait list for housing have recourse to public funds, not £35 a week and no permission to work. They also often have families - I can't fit a family in my spare room! The refugee hosting schemes are time limited, whereas sadly someone on the wait list for housing could be waiting years and having safe accommodation in someone's spare room would probably push them back down the priority list.

Also, it's our spare room, we chose to join the scheme because the way refugees and asylum seekers are treated is a disgrace and it's something we can do to help.

@Strawberrirose

I know many people who have come to the UK as refugees, not many of whom now live in social housing. They all have good jobs and incomes/businesses. Refugees will of course need help initially but many will be educated and also highly skilled or seeking education and will be not always require low income housing. We are a rich country and can afford to and should be more building homes.

Exactly. There are many options for creating emergency accommodation and time to find good accommodation after a resettlement support programme.

Where would the invited 5.4 million Hong Kong citizens be housed?

@sst1234

Private rentals, where else?

Well I did wonder whether pvt landlords would help, it's just the ones where I live won't touch people on benefits with a barge pole and want guarantors.

They are extremely discriminatory towards people deemed in need of government support, even people who work but have their wages supplemented by UC are regularly turned down, so I couldn't see many London landlords opening their properties up to refugees.

Hopefully, well clearly, that isn't the case everywhere else.

@Sarahlou63

*To whom?

Are most of the refugees from Afghanistan male?*

FFS. They are human. Just like you aspire to be.

Well said.

Think there's a lot of people in Scotland who would like to live on a wee island

Interesting. What research is your statement based on?

Actually landlords have to pay hefty insurance to rent to people on benefits.

I don't think you'd be allowed to offer a spare room to a family of five - it's usually to older teenagers / individuals identified as vulnerable. Agree unlikely to be many individuals on housing lists who'd take you up on that! Great to hear you have offered, and it is okay to offer to foreigners in need over British people who should be supported by our social welfare system, and not apologise for that. It's your house, apart from anything else.

That's not something many could do, but here's a scheme for housing refugees that communities can help with.

resetuk.org/

Would you want a man who is a stranger living in your house?

People do it when they take in lodgers.

What do you mean by "very rich"? I'm from HK - trust me, most people are not "very rich".

Manchester and Birmingham councils are already in discussions with the government. Welsh FM has also expressed solidarity and is keen to welcome refugees. I would imagine a similar response from Scotland. It’s only going to be 5000 a year anyway! A drop in the ocean. We have lost 1 million EU nationals.

There is so much office space which has been shown to not be needed for business over the last year. Lots of that could be turned into flats.

Maybe it will make the councils repair that thousands of properties they left to rot?

@memberofthewedding for fuck sake get a gripe you sour plum.
Either an unveiled dig at the FM or a completely stupid suggestion.
Unless of course your supplying temporary accommodation that can withstand the long and bleak gale force winds that arrive in the wee Scottish islands from about now until next May. Not forgetting your boat that will be needed to transport people.
Of course some of the islands have already offers homes to Syrian refugees so perhaps they have more experience than you

100s of Thousands expected to move here from Hong Kong, why?

I'm clearly not up to date on current affairs because it's the first I've heard of that.

I presume those arriving from Afghanistan will be classified as high priority, especially if the UK invites them to live here. Which would mean they’d jump to the top of the housing queues and be housed immediately, or have their private accommodation paid for by the councils to which they’ve been sent.