Half of social housing goes to applicants born abroad

BRITISH taxpayers should get priority in the social housing queue over new migrants, David Cameron’s poverty tsar has said.

Frank Field called for the shakeup after a study revealed up to half of all social housing lets are given to those born abroad.

At the same time, nearly five million families are languishing on waiting lists for subsidised housing in England.

According to figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government, in 2010/11 8.6 per cent of new social housing tenants were foreign.

But in London – where the waiting list has soared by 60 per cent to 362,000 in the past decade – up to half of such housing was handed over to immigrants.

In Haringey, North London, 43 per cent of new social housing tenants were foreign while in Ealing, West London, the figure was 45 per cent.

Although some boroughs did not record tenants’ nationality, making it impossible to scrutinise who is at the top of the queue, on average 11 per cent of new social housing lets in London went to foreigners.

Mr Field, the former Labour welfare reform minister, said: ‘For

‘This situation is a scandal’

years we have been told British people on the waiting list for social housing are getting a fair deal.

‘Yet, when the situation in London is examined, we find that, in reality, nobody has any idea how many new lets are going to foreign nationals and how many to British citizens.

‘This scandal must stop. I have a bill before parliament that will ensure citizens who have made the 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.’

Sir Andrew Green, of Migration-Watch, which released the figures, said: ‘The situation is a scandal. The records are in chaos. British people who have lived in the area for many years are given little or no priority.

‘What is clear is the proportion of new lets going to foreign nationals in London is far higher than has been admitted.’

Only British citizens – including those who were foreign born – should be considered for social housing, he added.