AIBU to ask if the plan to 'prioritise British families' for social housing is an attack on asylum seekers or a long overdue reform?

[Locutus2000]

The Grauniad (again, sorry)

Highlights:

Downing Street wants to give UK families higher priority for social housing in a controversial scheme that will be badged as “British homes for British workers”, the Guardian can reveal.

Polly Neate, chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, said: “This policy amounts to nothing more than scapegoating at its worst. It is unnecessary, unenforceable and unjust. Not only does it ignore the fact that there are already stringent rules so only UK citizens or those with settled status can access homes for social rent, but it blames a group of people for a housing emergency that they did not create.”

Under current rules, local housing authorities are meant to decide social housing allocation based on need, giving priority to those who are homeless or living in overcrowded or squalid conditions. Refugees are allowed to claim social housing, but anyone who is not entitled to benefits is not, meaning most foreigners in the UK are already excluded.

Ministers could also seek to strengthen the rules introduced by the Brown government so that people have to show they have stronger or longer connections to an area before being given priority for housing.

It just seems like dog-whistling to the faction incensed by 'foreigners' taking all the social housing. Equally, there is sod all social housing left and I can understand people's frustration. My elderly neighbours are still bitter about being 'pushed out' of London and perceive this to be a result of immigration.

I can see this being a popular policy even if based on a dubious perception.

• Note from MNHQ: Title has been edited at the OP's request to include the words 'for social housing'.

@Puzzledandpissedoff please do correct me if I’m wrong but won’t it primarily be asylum seekers, at least former asylum seekers, in competition of social housing? I’m working off the basis that other routes of immigration tend to have high levels of funds and strict employment secured which would likely disqualify them from most social housing provisions.

once someone has indefinite leave to remain or aquired citizenship then they’re as entitled as William the conquerer and the next person.

I agree Puzzledandpissedoff - it then remains to be seen if other parties will follow suit or it turns into an election divide which is probably the point. There needs to be sensible discussion anyway because the knee-jerk 'bigoted dog-whistle racists' responses are just as hard of thinking as they imagine their political opponents to be.

I agree. There are many champagne socialists on mumsnet because it has a majority middle class demographic, there is so much classism on here it’s amazing that posters don’t see how badly they come across or seem bothered by fact that their luxury beliefs come at a cost to the most vulnerable in our society.

In political speak "prioritising" is often code for "cutting".
So if you hear "We plan to prioritise X thing for the most needy" (for example), you should read in "and cut it for everyone else"

In this case the level of social housing is already very low so you might assume the "cuts" have already happened. Although plenty more can always be shaved off under the guise of "regeneration".

There's not even enough social housing to prioritise people anyway, because government were never interested in building it

Also very true, DeeCeeCherry, though they've been pretty keen on the money to be made through selling it off - and unfortunately that's included Labour governments

Thoughtful article about the whole issue here:

The suggestion is that they will remove that right from people with ILR, as they aren’t “British Citizens”.

So you could be a Nigerian nurse, working here for 10 years, and if your husband turns abusive and you and your children flee to a refuge, you won’t be entitled to apply for social housing.

Or you could be a Bangladeshi taxi driver, here perfectly legally for 30 years, children all born here, and if you become disabled you and your family won’t be entitled to any support as you are foreigners.

You literally have a show on several times a day on various channels about UK citizens buying houses/castles/flats/villages/whatever escaping to the sun/country/diy a chateau or whatnot 😂
Are you allowed to drive up housing prices elsewhere, but god forbid some Russian or Arab buys a flat in Notting Hill?

But that’s a belief you hold based on nothing more than your own suppositions. You can’t possibly know the circumstances of everyone who posts, you just find it a comfortable position to decide that everyone who has a position that you don’t has ‘no idea’ rather than facing the truth that maybe your ideals and positions have come from a place that makes you uncomfortable to admit to in public.

Tbh I can’t see any other reason for desperately trying to paint complete strangers as naive or unaffected. Just own your position, no one has to justify themselves to you anymore than you do to them. Claims of being vulnerable, poor etc. yourself don’t make your arguments of a lack of racial or xenophobic reasons behind this kind of policy any more valid.

Godwin has gone on record as saying his law should absolutely be discounted when you have the evidence right in front of you hasn’t he?

There needs to be sensible discussion anyway because the knee-jerk 'bigoted dog-whistle racists' responses are just as hard of thinking as they imagine their political opponents to be

Sadly that can also be true, but it's so much more fun for an unpopular government to get people fighting among themselves, in the hope they fail to notice where responsibility really belongs - and some of it rests on those who once insisted on the importance of social housing being available but then leapt gleefully upon the discounts available to buy their own

Won’t it primarily be asylum seekers, at least former asylum seekers, in competition of social housing?

I can't comment on other local authorities, @Cornettoninja, but with my own the majority is indeed going to those granted Indefinite Leave to Remain.
But then that'll be skewed by huge numbers having arrived in my city in the first place, plus as said the fact that many have been hurried through or been part of the granting of amnesties

This really seems like a desperate attempt to win votes similar to the Brexit campaign about the magic money tree appearing to save the NHS if we left the EU. It's always the same tactics, just point fingers somewhere else to cover up their own ineptitude to properly govern so everyone in the country can benefit from and actually prosper. Just another way to cover their tracks of years of corruption, selling etc to fill their own and friends pockets whilst turning people against each other and often the most vulnerable people disabled, immigrants, single mothers etc.

Originally American centric but works in a number of countries….

What makes you think I'm in favour of that? I'm not. I'm not even in favour of holiday cottages in Britain as they ruin the social structure of whole villages by pricing the locals out - the school closes, the shop, post office etc and they become dormitories.

Then I don’t quite understand how the Eritrean woman I used to help with her English once a week for over a year (she was married with 2 children) managed to be living in a very nice new 2 bed flat in a block in Putney. AFAIK all the flats were for ‘affordable rent’, not for sale, but if they had been, they'd have sold for at least £600k even several years ago.

I think it's wrong that this happened in the first place

Social housing should be given to those who are already here as priority

How would you treat a UK born person whose parents didn't work when they were a child? Should we all need to show our parents and grandparents NI records to be considered for a council house?

I don't believe that ANY foreign national should be allowed UC or housing.

You can only come here if you can afford to live.

Great, so we can take expensive London mansions off Russian oligarchs and use them to house the homeless 👌🏼🤞🏼

It's not just British people though. It's WORKING British people. Both immigrants and the unemployed of any nationality can go to hell. Not at all shocked coming from the Tories

There’s no social housing for the needy and there won’t be any more. That’s the core.

Under the circs, it’s wrong to ignore low paid workers in favour of anyone else. Capitalism relies on the hardworking low skilled.

Will they be working though? Most people who claim UC don’t work at all.

Rishi needs better advisors. This is so transparent that I’m cringing for him. Labour will probably just ignore this foolishness and wait to see what bollocks Rishi and co will announce next. Probably hostelling with Chris Eubanks or Monkey tennis. Fucking jokers. Embarrassing stuff.

We'll have nobody to work in the nhs if they're not careful...not that they give a shit. It's all desperate sound bite electioneering.

It’s just more meaningless noise.

Well that’ll be a Tory failure then, Universal Credit was implemented (at great cost) because it was meant to make it easier for people to get back into work.

but then I suppose we’ve had very low unemployment figures in recent years so it must depend on which way the winds blowing on any particular day in how anyone would choose to see these things as pros or cons.