Asylum seekers to be housed in HMOs in wealthier areas

Andy Burnham has been warned that houses in multiple occupations (HMOs) will bear the brunt of his plan to shift more asylum seekers into middle-class areas. The Prime Minister has said he wants to end the current system which sees the “poorest communities” housing more than their fair share of new migrant arrivals. “Red Wall” Labour MPs in the North of England are delighted by the new Prime Minister’s push for a more even distribution – arguing that they have been carrying too much of the “burden”. However, Burnham has been told that local authorities in middle-class areas in the South of England will try to use planning controls to thwart use of HMOs for asylum housing. Shorts At the moment the Home Office caps the rent it will pay to landlords of HMOs, meaning that asylum seekers are sent to areas where the rent is cheaper – poorer neighbourhoods. The Home Office is considering raising the cap, which would enable asylum seekers to be housed in HMOs in more expensive areas. But the PM has been accused of “hypocrisy” by his opponents for promising to devolve more powers to councils while trying to “impose” asylum seekers on them. Reform and Conservative politicians made clear they want council chiefs to block new HMOs in their areas using Article 4 orders. An Article 4 order requires landlords to seek planning permission to convert their properties into HMOs, giving councils the right to refuse consent. Labour councils in middle-class areas could also try to stop the further spread of HMOs with these planning powers, the Prime Minister has been warned. Why HMOs will be the focus of changes Burnham said on Tuesday that he wanted to ease the asylum pressure on the poorest neighbourhoods, arguing that all parts of the UK had to “play their part”. The Government is keen to expand its use of former military sites and to keep closing costly asylum hotels, which have acted as a focal point for anti-immigration protests. But use of HMOs by the Home Office’s private contract companies such as Serco is far more widespread and increasingly controversial. There were just over 97,000 asylum seekers getting support at the end of March, according to Home Office statistics. While 21,000 were in hotels, just over 72,000 were in non-hotel accommodation – most of which are understood to be in HMO properties. The widespread use of HMOs mean that these properties will be the “focus” of any attempt by Burnham to “change the distribution” across the UK, said Dr Nuni Jorgensen, researcher at the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory. Why South of England is set for biggest change The North East and the North West of England still have the “widest coverage” in the UK when it comes to asylum accommodation, according to Migration Observatory analysis. The North West hosts the largest share of supported asylum seekers – 20 per cent of all in the UK, official figures show. There are still 41 councils in the UK which do not house asylum seekers – including 17 who provide no support at all to asylum seekers. They are mainly in the South of England – including the Cotswolds, New Forest in Hampshire, Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, the Malvern Hills and Derbyshire Dales. Burnham bringing ‘fairness’, say Red Wall Labour MPs Red Wall MPs in the North are pleased at Burnham’s intention to change dispersal – arguing that the private contractors have “dumped” people in areas with the cheapest HMO housing. Luke Akehurst, Labour MP for North Durham, told The i Paper: “I agree that areas that are more prosperous should carry more of the burden rather than the focus being on areas with cheap housing.” Councils should get more powers to “block excessive proliferation of all types of HMOs”, added Akehurst. Jonathan Brash, Labour MP for Hartlepool, told The i Paper: “I’m pleased Andy Burnham is acting to bring fairness to the system. I’ve long called for a fairer distribution.” Brash also said he supported more “legal power” for councils “to say no” to more asylum accommodation in their area. ‘Bloody-minded’ Reform will try to block HMOs Nigel Farage has made clear he wants “bloody-minded” Reform councils to block HMO planning applications to help limit asylum seeker numbers in areas held by his party. George Madgwick, Reform group leader at Hampshire County Council, said it was “wildly inappropriate for Burnham to suggest they [asylum seekers] should be in middle-class areas”. The Article 4 power available to councils “isn’t everything”, said Madgwick – but it had been “effective in blocking new HMOs in certain areas” of Portsmouth, where he is a councillor. Reform councils, “including any in middle-class areas”, will try to use Article 4 powers to block new asylum HMOs, he added. Wendy Whittaker-Large – a Reform councillor for Alsager Town Council in Cheshire – also warned Burnham his plans could run into trouble. She said Article 4 orders to crack down on new HMOs had already “spread like wildfire” in some parts of the country. Wendy Whittaker-Large, a Reform councillor for Alsager Town Council in Cheshire, owns HMO properties in the North of England She warned that Labour-held councils, as well as Tory and Reform councils, in middle-class areas in the South of England could use them to block new HMOs for asylum accommodation. “So Burnham will struggle to overcome local objections,” she said. Whittaker-Large, who is herself a HMO landlord who rents them out to professionals, has suggested a brand-new planning class specifically for asylum accommodation. She said it could be used to allow councils to block an asylum HMO in their area without affecting those properties needed for students and professionals. Will Burnham expand councils’ powers? However, use of Article 4 orders can only block new HMOs being set up. Existing HMO property owners are still free to strike deals to house asylum seekers. Joe Robertson, the Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight, which houses no asylum seekers, said his constituency was “not a suitable location” for the accommodation. Councils “should have the power to say no” to use of HMOs, added Robertson. Lewis Cocking, Tory MP for Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, said he did not think it was “fair” to impose asylum housing on any area without their consent. The government has cut the number of asylum seekers in hotels by 35 per cent in the past year and reduced costs by £1bn, said a spokesperson. The spokesperson added: “We are already working to fairly house asylum seekers across the entire country, working closely with local authorities and listening to local concerns to help reduce the impact on communities.”