Britons to be prioritised for council housing ahead of migrants

British nationals are set to be prioritised for council housing ahead of migrants under plans being considered by the Government.

Ministers are looking at introducing new legislation later this year that would bump citizens and permanent residents to the top of waiting lists.

The move, first reported by The Times, comes as Rishi Sunak seeks to address voters’ concerns over the impact of the small boats crisis.

Officials are keen to bring forward the law in this autumn’s King’s Speech, but want to ensure there are no unintended consequences.

In particular they want to guarantee refugees who come via legitimate routes, such as the Ukraine resettlement scheme, are not affected.

A source told The Times: “Social housing is a finite resource so it’s only right we look at what more we can do to ensure UK nationals are prioritised locally as homes become available.

“The UK will always welcome the economic contribution of legal migrants to this country, but they shouldn’t be allowed to jump the queue for social homes.”

There are around 1.2 million families waiting for social housing in Britain, with about one in 10 homes that become available going to non-UK nationals.

In parts of London the proportion reaches as high as 40 per cent.

Oxford, Milton Keynes, Manchester, Coventry and Birmingham also all see large numbers of such homes going to people who were born overseas.

Under the current rules foreigners who have been given indefinite leave to remain in the country are eligible for the waiting list, as are refugees.

The existing guidance does state that people should have been living locally for at least two years before they qualify for social housing.

Discussions on the new law, which are at an early stage, have focused on giving Britons priority rather than barring migrants from accessing such homes.

Existing protections for some of the most vulnerable groups in society, such as veterans and victims of domestic abuse, would be retained under the plan.

The idea has been looked at previously and was proposed by David Cameron’s poverty tsar in 2012, but it was subsequently discarded.

Frank Field, a former Labour MP brought on board as a Government adviser, described the number of social homes going to migrants as a “scandal”.

He said taxpayer funded housing should go to “those citizens who have made most contribution to society, who have paid their taxes and whose children have not caused trouble, for example, will have first choice of any housing available”.

Shelter, the homeless charity, criticised the Government’s plans to revisit the policy and said ministers should build more new social homes instead.

Polly Neate, its chief executive, said: “If you try to push British citizens up the priority list then others with greater need will be ignored and lose out, including homeless families with children who have every right to be here, and those fleeing war in places like Ukraine.

“What this policy amounts to is an admission of failure by the government to build enough social housing.”