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!

Family reunion was discontinued in 2025. Now family can only come on the sane terms any visa holders must use. A minimum (legal) income of £29,000 and expensive application and NHS fees apply.

The refugees able to bring families are the gainfully employed.

The Palestinian woman who brought over 18 family members might be employed, but how far will her contribution stretch in supporting them?

https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/working-paper/migration-household-employment-europes-public-finances

This paper makes three contributions. First, it documents that Europe increasingly receives migrants from Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (CASAMENA), where female employment is extremely low. A wealth of research suggests this is because male honour depends on female seclusion; we call these “seclusion-origin” countries. Second, we assemble harmonised data from Europe and North America, and show that such female migrants have very low employment, often persisting in the second generation. Men from these countries are concentrated in low-paid work. Third, we replicate the UK government’s Migration Advisory Committee fiscal model and show how sensitive its presumed positive fiscal impacts are to relatively optimistic assumptions around employment and earnings. In the final part of our paper we detail our methodology and extend the model through the tax, welfare and pension rules of Germany, Spain, France and Britain. Using a common calibration informed by seclusion-origin employment profiles, with earned-and-credited UK NI pensions, our model projects that a male entrant with an economically inactive wife and two children needs entry pay between p68.6 and p80.3 on the national full-time pay distribution for the family to break even. Even if his wife works at the calibrated pay, he must still earn above median national pay for the family to break even. Below that, the specified family scenarios generate projected net fiscal costs. In brief, we show that if a government taxes low earners lightly and provides these groups with generous benefits, and a woman is economically inactive, then her male partner needs to earn a very high salary for their family to make a positive fiscal contribution.

Thank you for debunking one of the many sweeping claims and generalisations @5MinuteArgument made.

The information about Scotland is also ‘sweeping’. Councils up in Scotland don’t have ‘council’ houses, the housing associations provide their own priority criteria.
The criteria meets equality legislation and does not make distinctions on gender, marital status, religion etc. This does not prioritise single, male men, it just gives them the same opportunities as everyone else. They also do not house asylum seekers unless settled status has been granted. The criteria does not guarantee a place to live just a place on a large list of many others who are a priority.

https://www.paih.org/resources/family-reunion-rules

Thank you, @DownToTheGround

It is at least the second time I have mentioned the change of law, brought in by Labour, on this thread. It feels like more!

And still the misinformation and sweeping generalisations continue…

Dangerous and divisive.

I think it was unreasonable of the local authorities to not have even mentioned there plans to local neighbours of there HMO plans!
this could impact you and other neighbours massively regarding house prices or problems selling if any of you was to want to sell up.
You may have already mentioned this but how do there keep the outside of there property is it well maintained? There is a HMO in our local town and its been completely destroyed a lovely Victorian large property which is an awful shame windows smashed rubbish and scrap metal outside it’s run the area Down

The woman is anonymous. I don’t know anything about her.

However it is anticipated that the Home Office will go to the Court of Appeals over this case. In past, similar cases the Court of Appeals has taken a more stringent view of what constitutes a nuclear family and of how far a refugee’s mental health may be taken into account when considering the claims of relatives. Some rulings have specifically concerned refugees from Gaza.

The betting seems to be that the Court of Appeals will overturn the decision allowing (most of) these relatives to stay in the UK.

Would you not agree thought that very few people will be able to fully support 18 members of their family?

Of course. However we don’t know the full story. Perhaps others in the family have the ability to earn well.

The case is highly exceptional, possibly unique, and likely to be overturned. Mistakes happen in any system. Why are you focusing on one mistake?

Because a ruling can set a precedent.

Not if it is overturned, as this is expected to be.

But it would if it was allowed to stand?

This is why this case is important.

Why are you worried about something legal experts do not expect, on the basis of legal history? Actually the answer is ‘No’ but I will return to that.

It feels like you want to be able to point to this as a a big problem rather than see it fixed.

According to what I have found, most immigration experts think that the particulars of this woman’s case are very particular indeed. This could only be a precedent for someone whose life circumstances, including physical and mental health and family history, closely matched hers. Even from what is known (which I haven’t looked into as I am not interested) the experts think it most unlikely that this case could ever be a significant precedent. If it even survives.

It is a big problem, it could lead to a much bigger problem and yes, I would like to it fixed.

Don’t you?

I explained above why legal experts do not think this woman’s situation will be a precedent. Her circumstances are too specialised to be cited successfully by others.

Of course from what we know this situation seems like a problem. Let’s see what the Court of Appeals says. They generally take a hard line. If they uphold the decision I will assume they know something you and I do not. But the betting is that they will overturn.

The house and the garden have deteriorated rapidly under asylum contract. No one comes to maintain anything and the guys themselves will rather lose all access to their washing line than pull a single weed out.
A picture of their garden before I complained to the council. And...their water goods don't exactly seem to work! There must be damp inside everywhere!

The landlords&contractors get away with zero maintenance and slum conditions because they rely on a type of tenant that will never complain.

I went knocking on doors in my street. Spoke to all and sundry. Another Asylum HMO is overcrowded and has not had hot water for a month...

Have you complained to the council about the overgrown garden?

@MustTryHarderAndHarder Yes, I did. Took the maintenance three days to clear, as there were mattresses and all sorts of rubbish under those weeds.
I wish the council would prosecute and give fines though! Without fines the garden will be going back to the same state until I complain again. It's cheaper for MEARS to send someone out once a year than employ a regular maintenance person.
No one who rattles those "asylum seekers welcome" posters lives next to this!

No one who rattles those "asylum seekers welcome" posters lives next to this!
Exactly!

Not asylum seekers, but I used to live next to a housing association house. The Somali family living there absolutely wrecked the place (gutters ruined, next level damp, wrecked garden etc), and after that the landlord quit renting to the HA and instead went private. I don't blame him.

All this surrounding decay affects my property and my enjoyment of it. I can't have a normal, nice garden due to what goes on next door.
I get masses of invasive, tap root weeds and also every single one that goes to seed. Things like brambles, nettles, ground elder, giant dock, spear thistle. At the back of their garden, there's even Japanese Knotweed!
I can't plant anything of value as I have to be ready at all times with herbicide and black plastic ...😭

This is so rubbish OP I'm so sorry. Our politicians wantnto keep them coming as it keeps the landlords' pockets nice and fat but this is the price we all pay for a few work us to be overpaid for sending the country into ruin.

I just remembered that my username is inspired by their garden - I see Japanese Knotweed and smell pot if I go outside!

Well, if they have Japanese knotweed, then they are legally obliged to sort it out or face massive fines.

You need to tell the council straight away and keep on at them until they do something about it.