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Immigrants 'don't top housing list'
07.07.09
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Claims that immigrants are given priority access to social housing have been dismissed as a myth by the equalities watchdog.
A study for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found that only 1.8% of social tenants had moved to the UK within the past five years.
Some 87.8% were UK-born and 10% foreigners who had been living in Britain for more than five years.
The study, based on previously published figures from the 2007 Labour Force Survey, was conducted by the centre-left Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank.
Its report, commissioned by the EHRC, comes amid heightened concern about gains in recent elections by the British National Party (BNP).
The far-right party spread rumours in target seats that immigrants were given precedence in the queue for social housing accommodation.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week announced plans to allow local authorities to give priority to local people, in what was seen as an attempt to head off BNP claims.
The IPPR found no evidence of queue jumping or abuse of the system by immigrants but warned that those perceptions were widespread in certain areas.
EHRC chairman Trevor Phillips said: "We have to recognise that people's perceptions are powerful, so it's vital that social housing providers and policy makers work to foster understanding about what is really happening on the ground.
"Much of the public concern about the impact of migration on social housing has, at its heart, the failure of social housing supply to meet the demands of the population. The poorer the area, the longer the waiting lists, therefore the greater the tension."
Reader views (3)
As a single person trying to get decent council or social housing, to rent, is virtually imposssible. Forced into buying and now regretting every minute of it. £1000's worse off, and living in substandard accomodation. I simply don't believe the wording in this statement. Familys with kids or people without Housing will be housed first, leaving zero for others.
- Ron, Camberwell, London
How can we take a divisive report based on numbers from a Labour think-tank seriously. Moreover, long do you have to be here before you are classed as 'local'.
Most people are very cautious of these 'reports' and the motivation behind them. Trust has gone.
- Sandy, London
More abject spin and waffle.
Can anyone explain to me in plain English precisely WHY foreigners are treated differently and BETTER than any English person currently is in the UK?
Ah! One law for MP's and Lords and an entirely different law for Joe Public.
Another different law for foreigners in the UK and for English peeps living in England.
What puzzles me acutely is simply that the English are forced not to publicly criticise any foreigner in the UK.
WHY cannot the English decide WHO lives in England - instead of leaving the decisions to a gaggle of parasite muppets in the House of Conmen?
- Reuben Camara, Republic of Morecambe, UK
