Thousands of European nationals could miss out on housing and benefits
Time is running out! European nationals living in the UK have just a few weeks left to apply to the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to regularise their status now that Brexit has brought an end to ‘free movement’ under previous EU laws. All European citizens living in the UK who come from EU countries […]
If it were a narco lab, it would be working
On the day he was inaugurated, Joe Biden halted the construction of Trump’s Mexican border wall. A few days earlier, 1500 miles to the south, a new ‘caravan’ of at least eight thousand Honduran migrants had set off northwards, partly in the hope that by the time they tried to cross into Texas, Biden’s promised […]
The “right to rent” is discriminatory – enough is enough
It was only in June that then Home Secretary Sajid Javid apologised for the impact that his department’s “hostile environment” policies had on the Windrush generation, many of whom lost their homes and jobs or were even deported from the UK. His promised review of the policy is incomplete, however, and is one of the […]
Ministers should have listened to Right to Rent criticism six years ago
It’s taken over five years but the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has now won an argument that was championed from the start by CIH. Back in July 2013 the housing minister wrote to CIH’s chief executive setting out plans to deter ‘illegal’ immigrants by obliging private landlords to check the passport of […]
Asylum seekers in Scotland – what’s the background to the SERCO contract issues?
Despite all the fuss about migration levels, the numbers applying for asylum in the UK are at historically low levels. They ran at over 100,000 annually in the early noughties, then fell to around 30,000 per year and are back near that level again after another short peak linked to the migrant crisis in the […]
Will housing receive a ‘red tape bonus’ from Brexit?
Leaving the European Union is supposed to free us from red tape. Depending whether Brexit is hard or soft, it could give Britain more freedom to set its own rules. Will this be of any benefit to the housing sector? Let’s look at some of the possible changes. EU procurement rules are one example. Ending […]
The hostile environment: what social landlords need to know
The problems experienced by the Windrush generation highlight the effects of the “hostile environment” created by Theresa May when she was home secretary. Anyone needing rented housing is affected, alongside those going to hospital or applying for a job or bank account. Social housing applicants have long had to comply with eligibility rules but landlords […]
Raab’s use of outdated and oversimplified evidence is foolhardy
In response to demands that he produce the evidence for his claim that immigration is driving up house prices, the housing minister has now published the calculations. Do they back up his argument? First, it must be said that researching the drivers of house price increases is fraught with difficulty as there are so many […]
Raab’s claims about immigration oversimplify a complex housing problem
Dominic Raab, the housing minister, has rightly been asked to produce the evidence to back up his claim that immigration has put up house prices by 20 per cent over the past 25 years when the research suggests that immigration is just one factor pushing up housing demand and a minor one at that. The […]
Is Britain about anything other than battles?
How old was Mary, Queen of Scots, when she took the throne? Who won the Battle of Killiecrankie? Unless you know the answers, you’re not fit to be a British citizen. Well, of course you may be one already, but for people who take the Home Office’s Life in the UK test in the hope […]
John Perry lives in Masaya, Nicaragua where he works on