CONSERVATIVES PLEDGE TO END SOCIAL HOUSING FOR FOREIGN NATIONALS

The Conservative Party has announced plans to end social housing provision for foreign nationals in England if elected at the next general election. The party said the policy would free up an estimated 228,144 to 230,000 homes for British families. Under the proposals, any single person currently in social housing who is not a UK, Irish or EU citizen would be required to leave within six months, including those with children. Couples where neither person holds UK or EU citizenship and neither has EU settled status would also lose entitlement to social housing.

The Conservatives argued the policy would address pressure on housing waiting lists, which official figures show contained 1.34 million households as of March 2025. Foreign nationals with settled status, refugee status or specific humanitarian protections would remain eligible for social housing, as would those with EU settled status. Under current eligibility rules, asylum seekers cannot access social housing except in exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases. The party claimed Labour had "lost control of immigration" and allowed British families to languish on waiting lists as a consequence.

Labour rejected the proposal as "unserious and unworkable". A Labour Party spokesperson said the policy would primarily affect refugees and long-term UK residents, including NHS staff, and risked leaving more families homeless whilst increasing demand for temporary accommodation at public expense. The party accused the Conservatives of copying Reform UK, which has proposed requiring foreign national tenants to secure private housing within three months or face deportation. The Conservatives previously considered, whilst last in government, requiring foreign nationals to have lived in the UK for ten years before qualifying for social housing.