One in 12 council homes is allocated to a foreign family

More than 300,000 taxpayer-funded properties are allocated to foreign nationals - eight per cent of all social housing in Britain.

Ministers had previously said that around 200,000 such homes were occupied by non-Britons.

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Many of the foreigners accommodated in homes run by local councils or state-funded housing associations are thought to be recent arrivals.

The cost of providing properties for non-Britons is put at £19billion - equivalent to all the money collected in council tax last year.

The allocation of housing has alienated some communities.

Culture Minister Margaret Hodge, MP for Barking in East London, complained in May that migrant families were being given priority for homes over those with a "legitimate sense of entitlement".

A month later the Communities Department published a report which warned that housing policies should take into account the needs and fears of established populations.

Tory MP James Clappison, whose requests led to the release of the housing figures, said yesterday: "The present Government has presided over a significant increase in migration, in no small measure as a direct result of its migration policies.

"However, it has not taken into account the impact their policies are having on housing and public services.

"We need to examine very carefully the pressures migration is placing on social housing in the same way as it is creating general housing demand with a third of demand attributable to migration."

The figures on foreign tenants were contained in a housing survey published earlier this month by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Officials had, however, made no attempt to highlight the issue of foreigners.

The survey, carried out in 19,000 homes last year, asked for the first time about the nationality of the head of the household.

It found 309,000 non-British families in 3,864,000 state-subsidised houses and flats.

Some 173,000 heads of household in council and housing association homes were under 40. Only four per cent of owner occupiers were found to be non-British citizens.

A quarter of privately-rented homes were occupied by foreigners, the survey said.

A Communities Department spokesman said the figure included British citizens with dual nationality who chose to identify themselves as foreigners in the survey.

He added: "Seventeen per cent of UK and Irish householders live in social housing but only one and a half per cent of all households are foreign national social renters.

"Contrary to popular belief, more foreign nationals own their own homes than live in social housing."

Around 1.5million people are thought to be in the queue for social housing.

Robert Whelan, of the Civitas thinktank, said: "Housing has the potential to be the flashpoint for an outbreak of resentment towards immigrants. Of everything provided by the welfare state, homes are the most valuable.

"People feel deeply the unfairness of giving valuable resources to people who have not contributed to the welfare state."

The £19billion figure is based on a statement from ministers earlier this year that the average subsidy for a social housing unit over its useful lifetime is £62,000. Homes typically cost £133,000 to build and maintain over their life cycle with rent covering £71,000 of the cost.

• Foreigners cannot be denied access to social housing under existing rules.

Councils and housing associations allocate taxpayersubsidised homes only on the basis of need.

This system has been in place since the 1980s when waiting lists were phased out.

The rules on need apply to everyone, British citizen or otherwise. Councils give top priority to the homeless or those with large families.

Joblessness and poverty also count in the favour of a would-be tenant. Young single mothers almost always qualify for a home.

Critics say the system can favour criminals, released prisoners and drug addicts, thereby explaining the decline in the condition of social housing estates.