A newspaper claims that the government is to offer landlords five year ‘full rent’ deals to house migrants.
The Daily Telegraph says Serco, a private contractor working for the Home Office, is hosting an event next month open to landlords, property investors and letting agents with units in the Midlands, north west and east of England.
A Serco website headlined Calling All Landlords says “our purpose is the provision of accommodation, transportation and subsistence payments for asylum seekers whilst their claims are being processed. We are responsible for over 30,000 asylum seekers in an ever growing portfolio of more than 7,000 properties. Our operating model is based on leasing properties from a wide network of landlords, investors and agents with Serco acting as a Tenant. We want to work with you and will consider all types of properties in the North West, Midlands or East of England. These include traditional HMO’s, family property, former carehome, residential and student accommodation.”
Serco then gives a telephone number and online form for landlords to seek more details.
The initiative comes as the government presses ahead with the Renters Rights Bill, widely seen by the lettings sector as anti- landlord and responsible for a reduction in rental stock as landlords quit ahead of its implementation.
The Telegraph points out that private rental accommodation for a migrant can cost the taxpayer as little as £34 per night compared to a hotel costing some £145.
In addition the paper says the number of ‘small boat’ migrant arrivals in the UK is expected to rise with the good weather forecast for next week and beyond.
Several national newspapers made the claim, saying the ‘new’ deal is being offered to landlords following a surge in channel crossing in recent weeks during calm weather.
But the deal, which offers landlords a raft of inducements to join the scheme, has been on offer for several years and has been made via Serco, which is one of the three contractors who are paid to help the Home Office house asylum seekers. Serco was a sponsor at The Negotiator Awards in 2021, sponsoring Lettings Agent of the Year (1-3 branches), promoting their activity in the sector.
The Serco scheme was criticised over the weekend by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philip, who said the Government was “giving a better deal in favour of illegal immigrants than people who have lived, worked and paid tax here all their lives” – although he managed a similar scheme when a Home Office minister in 2020.
Despite several newspapers linking the landlord offer to the surge in channel crossings (pictured), Serco has been trying to entice landlords to rent out their homes via its Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract for five years years as part of its Government scheme to provide “accommodation, transportation and subsistence payments for asylum seekers whilst their claims are being processed”.
100 Year wait for Social Housing in London
Families could face a 100-year wait for social housing in London, new research warns.
Data from the National Housing Federation reveals that in Westminster, some families are facing waits of up to 107 years for a three-bedroom social home.
Housing charity Shelter is urging the government to tackle the crisis by committing to build 90,000 social homes a year for the next decade.
According to the National Housing Federation, the number of families on waiting lists in England has increased by 37% since 2015, six times the rate of the waiting list overall.
In 32 local authorities across England, the wait is now longer than an entire childhood (18+ years), with the worst three councils, all of which are in London (Westminster, Enfield and Merton), having waiting lists exceeding a hundred years.
Local authorities across England have placed people into temporary accommodation to keep waiting lists down.
According to the latest government figures, a record 164,040 children are homeless and stuck in damaging temporary accommodation, double the number in 2012, and one in every six children is living in an overcrowded home.
Social housing sector has faced years of withdrawal of vital funding
Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, says the long wait time are a “national scandal, the fact that families in so many parts of the country face waiting lists for an affordable home longer than their children’s entire childhood is a national scandal. Security, stability and the space to learn and play is vital for a child’s development, yet we are allowing hundreds of thousands of children to grow up in damaging temporary homes, in cramped and poor-quality conditions and with little privacy. This is no way for a child to grow up and these children deserve better.
The social housing sector has faced years of withdrawal of vital funding. The upcoming Spending Review is the opportunity for the government to rebuild the capacity of the social housing sector and commit the investment and the change that is needed, creating a better future for our children and ending homelessness for good. This means delivering coordinated homelessness and long-term housing strategies which include a package of measures to support the social housing sector to recover and crucially a big boost in funding to build new social homes.”
Building 90,000 social homes a year for a decade
Shelter claims to meet demand more than 90,000 social homes would need to be built each year to meet demand, more than ten times the current rate.
Mairi MacRae, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter, said “decades of failure to build genuinely affordable social homes has left our housing system in tatters and trapped families in a relentless cycle of insecurity and homelessness. No child should grow up without a safe, stable home, but today, more than 164,000 children are spending their formative years in damaging and often dangerous temporary accommodation.
Every day our frontline services hear from desperate parents forced into impossible situations. Families squeezed into single room temporary accommodation, with nowhere for children to play or do homework. Key workers uprooted from their jobs and communities because there are simply no homes they can afford nearby. Childhoods are being lost to homelessness and it’s costing the country billions. The June Spending Review is the government’s chance to right this wrong. By committing to serious investment in social housing – building 90,000 social homes a year for a decade – we can end the housing emergency, save public money, and give every child the foundation they need to thrive.”
According to Shelter, social rents are 69% more affordable than private rents, with social tenants in England paying on average £947 less per month in rent than private tenants.