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!

@Anonyanonay
I'm having a good ol' cry now. Once I'm done, I may need to look into taking time off work for stress and go and stay elsewhere.
At what point do I become "vulnerable" and get charitable help?

I'm so sorry OP.

If you say so ..

That is awful. You need to call the fire brigade. They should come out and it will at least be logged, but probably won't have any effect as the politicians who devise these policies are blissfully asleep in their ivory towers dreaming about inclusivity.

.

Have you logged any complaints with your council up until now? I would start with a complaint about the smoke for a start. To be honest it may be a police matter, if smoke is too close to your windows they would come out more immediately perhaps? Then it would be officially recorded.
I know you feel alone OP but you need to be proactive and start alerting the relevant authority when things are getting out of hand.

This is like my street OP. Solidarity 😭

I had a man knock on my door at the weekend looking for a random number (eg 60 when I live at 65)

I said no I’m not 60 as per my massive door number, meanwhile he had a good gawp past my shoulder. Then knocked on NO OTHER DOORS and went to knock for his mate at the HMO at number 69!! So he was deffo sussing me out not lost. I’ve seen him loads of times buying his wares from the dealer that lives there. Couldn’t sleep since.

If the Council will buy your house OP sell it to them and get out of dodge. Or sell privately if you'll get more.

You have said that your house is uninsureable? If it burns down you'll lose everything.

You can't save your street on your own (or even with the 3 other owner occupier families). Sounds like you would have a better quality of life somewhere else even if you (very unfairly) lose money.

Thank you for offering words of advice 💐
It is a very specific and difficult situation I'm in...
Absolutely no one would come out to my phone calls, that much is guaranteed. I'd probably get asked to "have a word" first, which is particularly difficult as I am alone and have no clue who it is I am about to have a word with.
I got scared from the very real possibility of a property fire and just...went mad.
It actually didn't help when the two guys said : we don't live here. I screamed at them to fuck off away from the vicinity of my property before I report them and their mate for drug dealing. Anyway, it was ugly. I "had a word".

But the thing is, I'd be scared to make the same complaints official. The only thing my asylum neighbours value is their claim. Some of my accusations could compromise that. And then I would have strangers next door with nothing to lose and me as the enemy. They could burn my house and laugh...and there would be no come back and no justice.

I asked a male friend to come and do some gardening with me today, so they can't tell if I'm alone or not.
Other than that, I hope the Albanian "asylum seeker" gets moved on or deported soon.

It does sound really stressful but I think you're spiralling in a way that is not helping your situation. For example you are not reaching out for official help for fear it'll escalate and they'll do something drastic to you/your property. Yet you are happy to shout at them yourself? In reality if the police do get involved and they value their claims then they will be more likely to cooperate, and you won't be known as the woman next door screaming at them.
If there is smoke coming in to your house then call the police non emergency number 101 and explain that your rooms are filling with smoke from just outside as people are having a barbecue too near the building. Just be factual about it and emphasize the effect on the air inside and how you're concerned about the risks. If they suggest confronting then just explain you're a lone female and it's a HMO of exclusively men. The police and other authorities are obligated to look out for us so you need to just be clear and factual, also try to get things recorded in writing i.e. follow up with emails/messages and ask for written reports as they tend to take more care of things when there is a written trace.

@Maomee

I will see if I can find a way through to MEARS and ask them to ban all fires involving live flame and/or smoke inside the house and in the garden. They're here for 12 months max and should be able to last without burning stuff! I doubt the landlord would like his property burnt down either..

I have read most of this thread and it's a great idea to reach out and create a WhatsApp group within the street. You sound like a very positive person and not racist.

I had a very difficult time with a bullying male neighbour and eventually I reported him a second time for anti social behaviour. It was at a time after the Benwell house explosion when the council were suddenly all zero no tolerance of anti social behaviour, plus there was a new and very dynamic woman on the job.
I don't know what was said or written to him but he has been no bother since, incredibly. And this is now over a year ago and no relapse. I had decided if there was no improvement or things got worse, I would leave as it was intolerable.

I would say in your situation it is incredibly socially irresponsible that the council have agreed to this set up of a whole street being turned into what is in effect a transient ghetto. I can't see it returning back to a pleasant community with long term residents, for the foreseeable. I know it shouldn't have to be you who moves but would you consider an offer if the council made one? I think this is what I would be campaigning for. There may be successful precedents.
I really wish you luck with this Op.

Have you seen what is happening in Salford?

@SevenYellowHammers
We've had a murder in our street in one of the divvied up houses. A body was found on another occasion. There was a balaclava clad, baseball bat yielding gang attack/robbery.
Sometimes the street seems relatively calm but then someone moves in who tips the balance and you're just sat waiting for something to happen.

Just how stupid those insulated by the money are, to have done this to the country. Men, men, men - single, idle migrant men everywhere! Even if the middle classes don't (yet) live in a ghetto like mine, it will affect everyone. It already affects the better heeled in the leafy streets around here - they are losing their amenities, cafés and the built environment is turning dirty and scruffy. Good luck believing that a mural and a litter picking day will sort it! Bless their stupid little socks!

I'm thinking about leaving the country.

I don't blame you, this is awful.

Yes, it will affect everyone soon and no-one except Reform are even talking about it.

Did you say that you say that you were going to contact a local councillor? I think you said that they were Lib Dem so they won't do anything anyway.

I’m very sorry to hear this but don’t think it should be directed at me. I believe that undocumented people need to be kindly but securely housed and their whereabouts known. I think that an international response is needed and I think we have less than a decade to sort things out before climate related refugees are going to be inundating Northern European.

@MustTryHarderAndHarder I'm not going to go in to politics or judge anyone for what they do but Restore talk about and highlight these issues all the time. Many people don't know about Restore, the media don't mention them unless it's to cry racism or call people this for opposing the boats. It's grown very fast in the few months it's been going.

Have a look at their policies online and/or their Facebook page, many Reform voters are coming over to Restore after Farage called protestors 'thugs.' Restore want them all gone, every one that came here and are claiming a lifetime of benefits, plus all the family members they've brought over. Also all the economic migrants, all gone. Only the people who come to work and support themselves/integrate with our way of life, are welcome.

You don't need to reply to this if you've looked into them and still stand by Reform, like I said, I'm not looking for an argument or any debate, just bringing awareness that there is a party who is willing to tackle this and already has plans in place on how they'd do it, if given the chance.

Sorry for everything you're going through @JapanesePotWeed it's just so cruel what they're just dropping into communities. We have enough homegrown riffraff that needs sorted instead of adding extra into things! Each of your posts are so worrying and heartbreaking and I have no words suitable for Mumsnet for how I feel about this insane position the government have forced you/us into. Especially people like you who have to live next door to these random, undocumented men. Maybe give it time so you won't be identified from here, or do it anonymously, but get your situation put onto Restores page, or Rupert Lowes official facebook page. People need to know what the reality of living near these men is really like and maybe you'll get some advice or atleast a tonne of people who are on your side.

The knee jerk shouts of racism whenever anyone mentions the slightest negative about hordes of illegal immigrants is concerning. And yes, everyone who arrives on a ‘small boat’ is arriving illegally.

The Blair government did a right number on the population expressing concerns at the speed of change caused by an influx of immigrants, labelling everyone who so much as raised an eyebrow as racist. And it has stuck.

OP, I feel for you, I really do.

Yes, I know all about Restore but they really are racist and most of them are extreme right wing (I don't think Reform are as Farage knows that they have no chance of success if they were).

Restore are also anti-semitic and they want to get rid of all non-white British people (I have several non-white poeople in my extended family).

But you are correct in that more and more people are going to be pushed towards Restore because of inaction by the goverment.

The OP sounded quite tolerant when she first started this thread, but I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't start voting Restore and I wouldn't blame her.

@MustTryHarderAndHarder I don't view Restore in the same way as you but I can appreciate we all have our own experiences/reasons, which shape our views. Though I don't understand the racist claims as there's a darker skinned, indian (possibly?) guy who goes out and speaks for Restore in the streets. (I can't remember exactly as it was a fleeting view of a video I watched a while back, he definitely wasn't white though.) Plus his daughter in law is Libyan, as is my step mum, who also doesn't want their ways brought over here.

If he was racist, surely he wouldn't accept her into the family or be proud of his son marrying her. There will be hardcore racists who will pick on anyone purely because of their skin colour in both Restore and Reform but the vast majority are just normal people who want to preserve what we've grown up with and keep Britain, British, with immigrants who are willing to work and fit in. I just see Farage as slimy and wouldn't trust him at all, personally.

I haven't heard anything in particular that's anti-Semitic, only about the banning of slitting a conscious animals throat open before butchering it, which I agree with. I do feel sorry for Jewish people and their way of lives getting tangled in things as they, from what I know, just live their lives without demanding everyone works around their views and generally seem like peaceful, respectful neighbours.

This isn't the time or place to air our political opinions as no doubt we'd both stand our ground and it'll go on, I don't want to shout down someone else's view (I will look for the things you've said though incase I've got rose tinted glasses on due to my strong passion to get the undocumented men stopped,) but I don't want to derail the thread in that direction so I'll leave it now. Thank you for having a respectful reply to me, I appreciate hearing your side. I just wanted to bring awareness of Restore to others so they could make a judgement for themselves, if it may be for them.

OP, have you thought about going to the press?

Just saw this video and it reminded me of this thread. OP might find it interesting.
https://news.sky.com/story/why-are-poorer-areas-taking-more-asylum-seekers-13599248

Thanks for posting this. It confirms what we already know, that the poorest communities are taking a disproportionatly high number of HMOs as the government shuts down asylum hotels.

Middle class mumsnetters have suggested that the poorest people are actually the most welcoming to asylum seekers and refugees. If that was really true, the government could just continue to put asylum seekers and refugees into the poorest neighbourhoods and everyone would be happy as larry.

Even Andy Burnham seems to know that if the impact continues to fall disproportionatly on the most deprived neighbourhoods, there is likely to be an escalation of civil unrest. (In fact, I wonder if that's why they're clearing space in the prisons, so they will be able to carry out mass arrests in the conflict that's coming).

dont forget about the private companies buying up empty housing knowing they can get rich on taxpayer money by converting to HMOs

Yep, Serco / Mears making big bucks outbidding ordinary British people in the housing market in order to accommodate asylum seekers / refugees.

Crazy situation.

Hi, I'm a reporter from The Sun. Can you drop me a message please?