Living next to asylum seeker HMO, ask me anything

[JapanesePotWeed]

As the title says. I live in a Victorian mid-terrace, wall-to-wall, garden-to-garden with an asylum seeker dispersal HMO. They were moved in nearly two years ago, replacing a multi-generation family that were living there before.
There is another HMO directly opposite my house, where asylum seekers get rooms once they are approved to remain but don't have an income to support themselves.

Not AIBU but more like AMA. I'm wondering what people would ask me if they really could ask anything. Does anyone actually want to know what it is like? I hear a lot of political point scoring in the media regarding this topic but no one actually talks to people like me!

No socioeconomic stratum of society should bear a disproportionate burden.

Higher taxes for the very wealthy would help even that up, given that any solution (even trying to process and remove more people) requires more investment.
Though it's no suprise that reform, who pretend to care about those on low incomes, have central policies based on cutting tax for the wealthiest people.

I am finding this thread very interesting and informative. I live in a very rural part of Scotland and my politics have always been left leaning. However from what the OP is describing from her lived experience I can understand better how the far right is getting such a strong hold on power especially in urban areas where local authorities and businesses are not listening to people's concerns. The only people from 'Over seas' as they are termed where I live are Health and social care agency workers not asylum seekers.

Yes, the issues are not easy to solve. My ‘you can’t please everyone all of the time’ view stands here. Nicer areas, bigger bill.

Look how Kemi Badenoch tied herself in knots when being interviewed regarding people who are living on benefits should not live in nice areas, nicer than a working person can afford.

IME asylum and refugees housed in ‘nicer’ areas (through altruistic landlords) were welcomed. In fact, local people were asked to be less giving with charity donations, clothing, household items as this was causing unrest on a local council estate - ‘why are they being given free stuff and not us’.

Yet this was a nice area with racist attitudes towards the British Pakistani community living not too far from them.

Dispersal of asylum and refugees has the added benefit of families and individuals being soaked into local communities, rather than living as a large collective who do not need to interact with local people. This influences behaviours and values.

My experiences of expats (immigrants) on the Spanish Costa’s shows me how people of any nation prefer the familiar, prefer what they perceive to be people ‘like them’, choose to communicate in their own language, buy their own ‘English breakfast’ etc.

You've contradicted yourself a bit in the value of your house. If it could be snapped up at twice it's value, why not just sell it? You can't change the situation on your own.

Yes, it's happening all over. It's interesting reading about what's happening in Glasgow where the council is now under severe financial strain as its own rules mean that it houses single males who've just been granted LTR. This has created a pull factor which has increased the homelessness burden in Glasgow and led to opposition and protests.

I wish more people would be like you and listen to what people are saying, instead of dismissing anyone who has concerns as stupid.

Do you have any information about Glasgow and what rules they have? There was a BBC news story that said 50% of the homeless applications were from people who had been granted refugee status or had LTR, but it didn't say what proportion of those the council would take responsibility for housing.

In our region (in England) the councils apply the same homeless rules to refugees as local people, meaning that homeless people with dependent children are usually granted priority status, but for single people it's only those with the most serious physical or mental disabilities would get support. The rest would be given advice, or possibly helped with a bond to access private rented (HMO because there's no self contained properties that are anywhere near the LHA now)

Scotland has rules that all unintentionally homeless people are entitled to permanent accommodation. Also once an asylum seeker's claim is granted, they are no longer the responsibility of the Home Office, and that responsibility shifts to the local councils.

Beyond that, Glasgow has been one of the major dispersal cities for asylum seekers (while their claims are still assessed), so once these are granted, responsibility shifts onto Glasgow City Council, and they are legally obliged to find them permanent accommodation at this point.

And then successful asylum claimants will actually travel to Glasgow based on the above, as it's known that they will be accommodated.

As you can imagine, this puts huge pressure on the overall housing stock in the city, as well as people in certain areas feeling uncomfortable with the pace of change.

Glasgow has plans for a zoo to rival Chester's so I've heard

Ah that's very different to England then, I could see why it would cause a lot of pressure. Here most single people granted refugee status would have to seek their own private accommodation. I can understand that it makes sense for asylum seekers to be housed in cities or large towns to help with integration and access to services, but if those cities then have to provide a homeless duty they definitely need more funding for housing. Or for the neighbouring councils to be required to accept their homeless applications as well so it's not all concentrated in one area, given asylum seekers don't get a choice where they're placed, and therefore where they can apply to (assuming you still have local connection rules)

Whilst I can see it isn't without problems, I think it's great that Scotland provides more help to homeless people generally, I do think that's the way it should be (and yes I would pay more taxes for it, there's lots of single men here who end up homeless after relationship breakdown and they get very little help - more recently they'll get a bed in a temporary shelter but nothing for more permanent housing)

Spot on.

The only reason why I live amongst druggies and asylum seekers is that I can't afford to buy my way out.
Cash is the best fence.

If your worried ded alert the council .

My Home is not a tenanted HMO, with 10% yield and established annual income of £££££.

My "worries" mean nothing to the council. The landlord has a permission. They have C4 HMO licence to house upto 6 people. The fact they obtained it by fudging how many and who they intend to house, stands for nothing. It was too late the very moment HMO use was granted.
Remember this every time someone claims their development is for "young professionals only".

Ok as long as they do have a licence and only house 6 people

That's ignoring the fact that more are arriving every week though isn't it?

AI to the rescue again, citing HMG sources:

A person becomes part of the backlog the moment they pass their screening interview. Statistics are updated quarterly. The quarterly statistics have been falling.

I started a thread in AMA recently, as someone who dated a criminal. This was something she was very adept at doing, but the first time I'd learned of this she did it to rescue a trapped cat, rather than anything nefarious! Still illegal of course.

Cash is the best fence

So true, sums up the whole debate.

Pretty sure that's what's happening in my little town. Someone has bought an old hotel and the official word is that it's going to be for young professionals, likely dentists, to stay in. We only have two dentists locally and one is private, the other NHS but both foreign run (not saying that as an issue, so long as they're qualified!) but I don't know where all the budding dentists are meant to work! I really hope it's not going to be used as an asylum seeker HMO...

But most of us expect that's what it's going to be. We already have a few new faces and they stand out like a sore thumb, mostly for their dead stares and arrogance. Walking slow to cross the road so cars have to slow down for them on busy roads. I've been stared at and blatantly followed by one in town which was horrible as I've never had that before. A woman a few towns over was raped by some asylum seekers but it was denied and covered up by the local police until evidence of them crowding in her doorway and other information was put online and then suddenly it was 'under investigation'... Weirdly, I can't find anything about it anymore but locals are well aware of it.

We've had a few local facebook warnings and videos put on from some men hanging around local beauty areas following young teenage girls, they were putting videos on Facebook so people could get to them as alot of our nice areas can be on quiet routes. Apparently that group of men moved on and did the same in the next town.

I used to live carefree but now, even with the few that we've got at this point, I'm always checking over my shoulder when I'm walking alone or with the dog, as we go to alot of secluded areas. I'm not a Reform/Farage fan and never will be but I'm hoping Restore Britain/Rupert Lowe get in. (Don't come at me for my political views, it's not from a racism standpoint, it's from an overcrowded and non compatible culture standpoint. The notorious Rape Pamphlet being something everyone has heard about aswell as seeing the odd behaviour with my own eyes!) We can't even keep up with local crime, have long waiting lists for council houses, can't get an NHS dentist, long time to see a doctor... let alone having more people to try to fit in.

It's not an improving picture at all. It's vastly worse than where we were in 2023. This is yet another example of labour spinning the data and people blindly lapping up the soundbytes.

You guys just made me look up the HMO planning permission again. There were drawings of an extension that was built, photos (including of my house!) and of course the application letters from the landlord stating their intention to house three students.

THIS is what is displayed on the planning page now!
What is going on?! I now wish a news channel or an investigative journalist looked into who are the horrible bastards who are ruining lives and hiding the evidence.

That is disgusting but I assume it is to stop the HMOs being tageted.

DownToTheGround

"Do you work in the system? I hope not!
Government documents prove that you don’t know what you are doing and are not following legal requirements or you are confusing asylum seekers with refugees.
Very different status."

"Are you confusing asylum seekers with refugees"

Sounds like it.

Cash & connections. Those 2 things are not unrelated.