More than 230,000 non-EU foreign households face eviction under Badenoch’s plan to stop UK being used as ‘cash machine’
Daily Telegraph 06/08/26
Kemi Badenoch has pledged to evict foreign nationals from council housing, under plans to end Britain’s status as a “cash machine for the world”.
The Conservatives would eject almost 230,000 non-EU foreign national households, which the party said would free up homes for British families.
The policy would also ban any foreigners, from the EU or elsewhere, from signing new tenancies.
Announcing the plans, Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “Making Britain your home should be earned by working, paying tax and integrating.
“It should not come with a free ride on the benefits system. Britain cannot be a cash machine for the world.”
The waiting list for social housing has reached 1.3 million households in the UK, and housing charities have warned that the backlog will take more than a century to clear at the current rate of construction.
Andy Burnham has pledged to bring social housing into public ownership and begin the “biggest council house building programme since the post-war period”.
However, the Tories argue the waiting list could be cut more quickly by banning foreign nationals from claiming state-funded homes.
Under Mrs Badenoch’s policy, tenants who do not qualify would be expected to move out of their homes within six months.
Under a future Conservative government, UK nationals and those with EU settled status would be eligible for social housing, but new arrivals from EU countries would not be.
Any single person, with or without children, who is not a UK, or EU citizen would lose their entitlement outright.
There are currently more than four million socially rented homes in England, provided by both housing associations and councils. Social housing is normally cheaper and more secure than privately rented homes.
The issue of accommodation for asylum seekers has sparked protests across Britain in recent months.
Anti-migrant protesters attacked homes they believed were being used to house asylum seekers in Thetford, Norfolk, on Wednesday night. One police officer was allegedly bitten, and another was hit by a rock.
Meanwhile, protests were held outside housing associations in Glasgow last month over fears migrants were skipping the queue for social housing.
Ms Whately added: “Labour has lost control of immigration and lost control of the welfare bill, and it is British families picking up the bill and sitting on waiting lists.
“The next Conservative government will make foreign nationals ineligible for social housing. Nearly 230,000 homes could go to British families.”
The Conservatives’ plan echoes a similar idea announced by Reform UK in June, which proposed ejecting all foreigners from social housing.
Unlike the Conservatives, Reform proposes to apply its ban retrospectively, regardless of how long someone has been living in the UK, by simultaneously abolishing Indefinite Leave to Remain immigration status.
The Tories’ proposal would see homes freed up once tenancies become available. Foreign nationals would have six months to find private accommodation and move out, which is twice the time suggested by Reform.
Reform’s proposal would penalise tenants who refused to move out within three months with the loss of their right to remain in the UK and possible deportation.
Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, said the Tories were trying to “copy” his party’s policy but had failed to address the issue of EU citizens in British social housing.
“Reform UK will ensure British social housing is strictly for British citizens,” he said.
“The Tories say they will continue to give it to foreign nationals while our own people and veterans are left to fend for themselves.”
The announcement comes after months of debate about how to lower Britain’s ballooning welfare bill, which is set to soar by 2030 amid a rise in benefit claimants and foreign arrivals.
Mrs Badenoch has promised to lend Mr Burnham votes in the House of Commons if he attempts to pass laws to reduce the benefits bill, following a rebellion of Left-wing MPs against Sir Keir Starmer’s reforms.
A poll by YouGov earlier this week found that two-thirds of the public believed the Government had done a poor job of handling the housing issue.
A Labour spokesman said the Tories’ plan was an “unserious, unworkable proposal, copied from Reform”.
The spokesman said: “People without Indefinite Leave to Remain are already ineligible for social housing, so this policy would primarily affect refugees and long-term UK residents who have contributed to this country but are not British citizens, including NHS staff.
“It would also leave more families at risk of homelessness, while driving up the use of temporary accommodation at the taxpayers’ expense.
“No amount of headline-chasing, or following Reform to the extremes, can hide the damage the Tories did to our housing system.”
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