ianstone
08-30-2010, 04:06 PM
IMMIGRANTS ARE SENT TO BACK OF COUNCIL HOUSING QUEUES
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More freedom to put British-born families ahead of immigrants in the queue for council houses
Monday August 30,2010
By Macer Hall, Political Editor
TOWN hall chiefs will get more freedom to put British-born families ahead of immigrants in the queue for council houses under new Government proposals to be unveiled this autumn.
Ministers want local authorities to ease the growing resentment among many white working class voters that newcomers are getting preferential treatment.
They want “local connections” to count in applications for social housing rather than handing out homes simply on the basis of need.
But the plan goes directly against multi-cultural equality programmes that were promoted under Labour, and it is likely to be resisted by many Labour-run councils.
Tory Housing Minister Grant Shapps yesterday acknowledged current rules for allocating social homes were breeding resentment.
He said: “It causes a great deal of concern and is very problematic for social cohesion when people find they aren’t provided with any preference when they are actually in the area they have lived in for a very long time.”
He said councils will be expected to take into account “the desire of local people” when drawing up their housing policies.
Mr Shapps added: “We plan to provide more flexibility to local authorities to judge the proper criteria for the waiting list. Apart from a limited number of prescribed cases — homelessness, for example — there should be the flexibility to write your own housing allocation criteria.”
Resentment over council housing is credited with boosting support in deprived areas for extreme-Right organisations such as the British National Party. Recent research suggests that more than one in 10 of the country’s 3.5 million social homes goes to immigrants.
And more than £230million of taxpayers’ money is spent every year on providing homes for asylum seekers. Under present rules, councils are expected to allocate council houses on the basis of need. The result is that the homeless, the elderly and families with many children living in cramped conditions tend to come first.This means that immigrant families, which are frequently larger than their British-born counterparts, sometimes take precedence in the queue.
Around five million applicants across the country are currently on the waiting list. Rules state that immigrants must be settled in the UK or come from a European Union country to qualify.
Councillor Edward Lister, Conservative leader of Wandsworth Council, in south London, said: “If the housing allocation rules are going to be changed, we would welcome that. We want to give a measure of priority to local residents. It builds stability in the community and keeps families together.”
http://images.dailyexpress.co.uk/img/dynamic/1/285x214/196404_1.jpg
More freedom to put British-born families ahead of immigrants in the queue for council houses
Monday August 30,2010
By Macer Hall, Political Editor
TOWN hall chiefs will get more freedom to put British-born families ahead of immigrants in the queue for council houses under new Government proposals to be unveiled this autumn.
Ministers want local authorities to ease the growing resentment among many white working class voters that newcomers are getting preferential treatment.
They want “local connections” to count in applications for social housing rather than handing out homes simply on the basis of need.
But the plan goes directly against multi-cultural equality programmes that were promoted under Labour, and it is likely to be resisted by many Labour-run councils.
Tory Housing Minister Grant Shapps yesterday acknowledged current rules for allocating social homes were breeding resentment.
He said: “It causes a great deal of concern and is very problematic for social cohesion when people find they aren’t provided with any preference when they are actually in the area they have lived in for a very long time.”
He said councils will be expected to take into account “the desire of local people” when drawing up their housing policies.
Mr Shapps added: “We plan to provide more flexibility to local authorities to judge the proper criteria for the waiting list. Apart from a limited number of prescribed cases — homelessness, for example — there should be the flexibility to write your own housing allocation criteria.”
Resentment over council housing is credited with boosting support in deprived areas for extreme-Right organisations such as the British National Party. Recent research suggests that more than one in 10 of the country’s 3.5 million social homes goes to immigrants.
And more than £230million of taxpayers’ money is spent every year on providing homes for asylum seekers. Under present rules, councils are expected to allocate council houses on the basis of need. The result is that the homeless, the elderly and families with many children living in cramped conditions tend to come first.This means that immigrant families, which are frequently larger than their British-born counterparts, sometimes take precedence in the queue.
Around five million applicants across the country are currently on the waiting list. Rules state that immigrants must be settled in the UK or come from a European Union country to qualify.
Councillor Edward Lister, Conservative leader of Wandsworth Council, in south London, said: “If the housing allocation rules are going to be changed, we would welcome that. We want to give a measure of priority to local residents. It builds stability in the community and keeps families together.”