STORY
Homelessness charity Crisis has criticised Reform UK proposals to remove foreign nationals from social housing and give greater priority to British born workers under the age of 35. Reform has also proposed prioritising married couples with children. Crisis said the changes would not address the underlying shortage of social housing and risked excluding people already facing housing insecurity.
Francesca Albanese, Director of Policy and Social Change at Crisis, said access to social housing for non UK nationals was already heavily restricted and that the overwhelming majority of social tenants were UK citizens. She argued that record waiting lists were primarily the result of too few social homes being built. Crisis cited research suggesting that around 90,000 new social homes a year would be needed to end homelessness in England.
The charity also criticised proposals that could exclude people from social housing because they were not in work. Crisis said this could affect older people, disabled people and carers, noting that nearly half of households moving into social housing include someone with a long term illness or disability. Albanese said increasing the supply of social housing, rather than restricting eligibility further, was the necessary response to the housing crisis.