UK’s housing crisis made worse by migration – MP

UK’s housing crisis made worse by migration – MP

9:20 AM, 23rd February 2024, About 5 months ago 18

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A Tory MP has claimed that the UK’s housing crisis is being aggravated by the post-Brexit migration system which sees tenants now paying 40% of their disposable income on rent, The Times reports.

Neil O’Brien, who was the levelling-up minister until last year, conducted an analysis that showed Britain had one of the lowest homeownership rates in Europe, while also having much higher rents than the eurozone.

He said that 38% of households spent more than 40% of their disposable income on housing, compared with 25% in the eurozone.

The problem was especially severe in London, where 67% of private renters were headed by someone born abroad.

Capital’s housing stock has grown by 10.7% since 2011

Mr O’Brien noted that the capital’s housing stock has grown by 10.7% since 2011, but the proportion of Londoners who had arrived from overseas since then was 16.6%.

He said that migrants were not ‘to blame’ for the root of the problem, but their effect had worsened the housing crisis and made it more difficult for the government to solve.

He explained: “In England as a whole, the growth of the housing stock [has been] only just greater than the growth of the population accounted for by migration, putting upward pressure on housing costs.

“In London the growth of the population accounted for by migration was actually greater than the growth of the housing stock, making that upward pressure even sharper.”

Took more from the state than they paid in taxes

Mr O’Brien also reveals that a large proportion of migrants to the UK took more from the state than they paid in taxes, with only 15% coming for work.

He said that despite the new points-based migration system, very significant numbers of those who had come to the UK in the past five years had not been net taxpayers.

He cited figures showing that, even among those on skilled work visas, 68% came to jobs where the median salary for people being sponsored was less than the median earnings of full-time workers.

This did not include those working in areas such as the care sector, which he said made up a ‘huge number’ of the total.

Obtained data from HM Revenue and Customs

The MP said he had obtained data from HM Revenue and Customs using a Freedom of Information request, showing earnings by nationality.

He said that while there were more countries with citizens earning above the average, there were larger numbers of people in the UK from the countries whose citizens earn less.

Mr O’Brien told The Times: “Over the long term a large proportion of those who have come to the UK have not been net taxpayers.

“So existing residents have faced the downsides on housing and the sharing out of the capital stock between more people, without getting the upside of a net tax contribution.”

He added that he hoped his analysis would improve the quality of the debate around migration and the wider economic effects.


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Trapped Landlord

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22:36 PM, 23rd February 2024, About 5 months ago

Do we think the housing crisis has been made worse by migration? Is this some sort of a trick question ? We have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of eastern europeans migrating to the UK every year and we are wondering if this may be making the housing crisis worse?. A few years ago we began letting to Eastern Europeans as and when our housing benefit tenants tenants vacated. Now we are 80% romanian nationals, most of which have latched on to universal credit and student loan payments of which they openly tell me they have no intention on paying back. The ones the are working more often then not work in local factories and are claiming single occupancy on their council tax payments and have migrated for entirely their own financial benefit. However, we find ,overall , these people make better tenants than the unemployed, legal aid / disrepair chasing local folk.
How one person working a minimum wage job in a household of 5 can be net contributors to our tax system, I'm sure I don't know.
This may come across as a depressing post but it is a true reflection on what we see day in day out at our company.

Londonlad

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23:26 PM, 23rd February 2024, About 5 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Trapped Landlord at 23/02/2024 - 22:36
"hundreds and hundreds of thousands of eastern europeans migrating to the UK every year" - are you sure?
And I think you need to be a little more choosy with you tenants, you might not feel so trapped.

Michael Booth

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6:04 AM, 24th February 2024, About 5 months ago

Reply to the comment left by richard bestic at 23/02/2024 - 09:40
Started under liebor with Tony blaires open door policies on immigration or has this slipped your memory.

Roogy

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7:25 AM, 24th February 2024, About 5 months ago

It’s quite simple - control immigration

NewYorkie

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11:00 AM, 24th February 2024, About 5 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Roogy at 24/02/2024 - 07:25
Build more social housing... at the taxpayers' expense, of course. Then let to refugees, asylum seekers, and benefits scroungers... at the taxpayers' expense.

Trapped Landlord

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9:57 AM, 26th February 2024, About 5 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Londonlad at 23/02/2024 - 23:26Certainly no need to be a little more choosy with our tenant selection, things have never been better here, dozens of eastern europeans banging the door down to rent every place that comes empty, and happy to pay the new sky high rents. Not one low paying , ungrateful housing benefit claimant in sight. As far as i'm concerned, they can keep the doors wide open for as many legal / illegals as long as they like. The more the merrier i say, and im glad to report, i'm feeling much less trapped these days !

NewYorkie

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11:40 AM, 26th February 2024, About 5 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Trapped Landlord at 26/02/2024 - 09:57
You're very lucky, but paying the rent isn't the problem. It's the lack of housing which is causing the crisis, and immigration, in all its forms, is a massive contributing factor which many don't wish to address.

VicGun Mayomby

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2:00 AM, 27th February 2024, About 5 months ago

Skilled visas .carers? Is someone being really serious about controlling immigration.1 carer bringing 6 dependants unless someone wakes up at this rate UK will be full in two years. looks like COVID has wiped out the entire British working age population.. which in reality it's all lies not true. Someone is just making money by opening UK borders

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