Public pissed off by asylum seeker housing, says minister Jonathan Reynolds
The federal government shares the general public’s “large frustration” on the stress the asylum system places on housing provide, Enterprise Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has mentioned.
Chatting with the BBC, he acknowledged concern concerning the House Workplace competing with native councils to search out momentary houses for asylum seekers and homeless folks respectively.
He mentioned the answer lay in constructing extra houses, processing asylum functions quicker, eradicating these with no proper to be within the UK and chopping small boat crossings.
Earlier this week, the Conservatives criticised Sir Keir Starmer for claiming there was “a lot of housing in lots of native authorities” to supply momentary lodging for homeless households.
The Conservative’s new shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly mentioned the remarks had “amplified” the frustrations of people that had been attempting to get on the housing ladder.
The previous week has seen ongoing demonstrations outdoors a lodge in Epping getting used to accommodate asylum seekers.
The prime minister made the comment when showing on the Liaison Committee, a gaggle of senior MPs.
Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs the Treasury Committee, requested the prime minister the place the federal government was going to accommodate homeless folks, on condition that the value of momentary lodging had been pushed up by the necessity to home asylum seekers.
He replied: “Oh, there’s a lot of housing and plenty of native authorities that can be utilized, and we’re figuring out the place it may be used.”
Pressed for particular examples, Sir Keir mentioned he would write to the committee.
Requested concerning the feedback on the At this time programme, Reynolds mentioned the prime minister “was speaking about, in prolonged approach, we have to put extra in place to unravel the housing disaster.
“We’re doing that and there are a number of choices that may be thought-about for British households in momentary lodging.”
Chatting with the identical programme, chair of the Housing Committee Florence Eshalomi mentioned councils had been “at breaking level relating to housing provide”.
She mentioned her committee had been advised that between 2023- 2024, native councils had spent a complete of £2.3bn on momentary lodging and that the numbers in momentary lodging had risen by 11% prior to now yr.
Requested concerning the Sir Keir’s feedback, she mentioned she would “welcome seeing the element the prime minister was alluding to”.
She mentioned it “can’t be proper” that the House Workplace and native authorities had been having to compete for a similar lodging and that there wanted to be higher “co-operation” between authorities departments.
She additionally mentioned extra social housing – housing that may be rented at reasonably priced ranges – wanted to be constructed so as to ease the pressures.
Councillor Hannah Dalton, from the District Councils’ Community, mentioned: “The truth for district councils is that our spending on momentary lodging has elevated by greater than 200% over three years and ready lists have risen to 303,000 households.
The chief of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council, from the Residents’ Affiliation celebration, added: “Slightly than councils and the House Workplace competing for a similar restricted inventory, we’d like pressing motion to forestall homelessness within the first place, together with uprating housing profit charges which have been frozen this yr regardless of rising non-public rents.”
Figures launched earlier this yr discovered {that a} document 123,000 households had been dwelling in momentary housing in England.
Momentary lodging refers to lodging which is organised by the native authority however is just not a everlasting house. It may embody lodges, hostels or caravans.
It’s supplied to those that are homeless, whereas they anticipate long term housing. Precedence is given to folks vulnerable to abuse from a companion or relative, pregnant girls, folks with dependent kids or those that are homeless due to a fireplace or flood.
Individually, the federal government is required by legislation to supply lodging to destitute asylum seekers, whereas their software is being processed. Normally asylum seekers should not allowed to work and earn cash till their declare has been accomplished, though there are some exceptions.
Since 2020, there was an elevated in utilizing lodges to supply this lodging.
As of March 2025, there have been 32,345 folks in asylum lodges, up from 29,585 on the finish of June 2024, however decrease than the entire in December.
The House Workplace’s annual accounts present a 3rd much less was spent on lodges to accommodate asylum seekers between April 2024 and March 2025, falling from £3bn to £2.1bn.
A senior House Workplace supply advised the BBC one of many foremost components behind the saving was transferring some asylum seekers from lodges into different kinds of cheaper lodging.
They mentioned the division had prioritised transferring households and youngsters into common housing so that they weren’t dwelling in lodges for lengthy durations of time.
The federal government has mentioned it needs to finish using lodges to accommodate asylum seekers altogether and Reynolds advised the BBC the variety of lodges getting used had fallen from a peak of 400 to 200.
Nonetheless, he added: “The answer is just not about placing folks into totally different types of lodging
“It is about having a system the place if folks should not be within the UK they’ve to depart the UK.
“That’s authorities coverage… it’s about having a system that processes the claims on the tempo they need to be processed and would not depart folks in limbo.”
