The English Prime Minister has recently sad that immigrants in Great Britain wait between 2 and 5 years before being on the wait list to get a house from the state. The reason is the dramatic increase of the number of applications in the last years, which has doubled since 2000 (from a million to two million).

Presently, the citizens of SEE member states who reside in Great Britain must be treated the same as British citizens regarding their request for housing benefits. Thus, they can be in the housing benefits registry from day one. Citizens outside the EU may be registered immediately provided they are either refugees or have a permanent residence permit.

Because of recent reforms, the English local authorities, can house homeless people and can give priority to some local connection people. But most local authorities ignore this possibility, though they already have long waiting lists.

According to The English Housing Survey, approximately 20% of houses in London are occupied by foreigners. In Peterborough and Boston, in Fens over a quarter of houses are inhabited by third country nationals. Still, the percentages vary quite a lot and it is very difficult to have a complete picture at this time at a local level, because the question regarding nationality is optional in the survey.

One of the recommendations would be that the citizenship question be mandatory in order that the research about housing benefits in England be accurate. We recommend a public enquiry regarding the allocation of housing benefits in the last years in Great Britain and especially in London.

Source: http://news.migrationwatch.org.uk/