Hoping to stave off the emergent electoral threat of Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain from the Right, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has vowed to ban foreign nationals from social housing if his party forms the next Government.
Under Reform’s plans, foreign-national tenants in council housing would be required to find private accommodation within three months or potentially face deportation from the UK.
The party has confirmed that such a ban would be applied on a retrospective basis, regardless of how long a foreign national has been living in the UK (under Reform’s previously announced policy of abolishing Indefinite Leave to Remain [ILR]).
This would apply to European Union (EU) citizens, who would also lose the right to social housing, with Reform intending to renegotiate post-Brexit treaties with the EU on aspects of citizens’ rights that are “non-reciprocal”.
As a community cohesion expert who believes that social goods can be allocated in a way that maintains and consolidates local solidarity, Reform’s proposals over council housing are most certainly a step in the right direction.
Social housing, usually provided by local councils or housing associations, is typically cheaper and more secure than private rented accommodation.
The reality is that for a long time, the UK’s immigration system has not acted as an effective filter in terms of selecting migrants who are financially self-sufficient and economically independent.
These islands have not been attracting the ‘brightest and the best’ and the industrial-scale inward migration of undereducated and low-skilled newcomers from culturally incompatible societies threatens to be a major long-term fiscal and social drain.
A radical overhaul of the UK’s immigration and asylum system is essential.
And it must take into account economic productivity, social attitudes, and cultural compatibility.
Ideally, this would be a rigorously selective system that prioritises well-skilled migrants from English-speaking democracies.
In terms of social housing allocation, a Government spokesman responding to Reform UK’s plans said “nearly nine in ten social homes go to UK nationals and most councils have tough local connections rules in place to ensure housing goes to people who need it most”.
But this is simply not good enough and the continuation of the status quo is unacceptable from the perspectives of nationhood and cohesion.
Social housing should not be allocated on the basis of need to the point that nationality does not matter – British citizens should be prioritised when it comes to how it is allocated by local councils and housing associations.
But it should not stop there – the allocation of social homes should prioritise people who live locally.
It should also prioritise people who have a proven track record of social contribution and civic duty in that area.
And British citizens who have a history of serving in institutions such as the Armed Forces and the NHS should also be prioritised.
This could include those providing in-family care for an elderly/disabled relative within that local authority or volunteering for a charitable organisation which makes an invaluable contribution to the lives of the more disadvantaged and vulnerable in the area.
These are people who are ultimately doing the state a favour – the least it can do in return is recognise that through the allocation of council homes.
The state should make a concerted effort to allocate social housing in a way which promotes British multigenerational cohesion and preserves existing family bonds in a local area.
That will preserve the character of established and well-settled communities.
If this means taking down key pillars of the New Labour legal architecture, such as the 2010 Equality Act, then so be it.