Senedd rejects Reform calls to end social housing access for foreign nationals

Ella Groves, ICNN Senedd Reporter

Foreign nationals living in social housing should be given three months to find private housing or face deportation, a Reform MS has said.

During a Senedd debate tabled by Reform, Joe Martin MS called on the Welsh Government to “end access to HMOs and social housing for foreign nationals”.

But the motion faced cross-party objections, with Welsh Greens leader Anthony Slaughter describing it as “nonsensical, hateful and inflammatory”.

Plaid Cymru and Labour tabled an amendment to the motion which instead recognised that social housing priority is determined by need.

It also noted that decisions regarding the dispersal and accommodation of asylum seekers are reserved to the UK Government.

“Deranged”

Social housing “should be reserved for the people of this country”, according to Francesca O’Brien, Reform’s shadow housing minister.

Describing the current asylum system as “deranged”, the Gŵyr Abertawe MS said the use of HMOs to house asylum seekers is putting “families out of homes”.

Noting that social housing allocations in Wales are still under Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996, Ms O’Brien criticised the framework for including “nothing” about how long individuals have lived in Wales or citizenship.

She explained how in 2011, England “gave its councils the power to decide who qualifies for social housing” with “hundreds” now applying a residence test.

She told members that Section 35 of the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill would have given Welsh councils the same power – but it was removed by an amendment tabled by the now housing minister, Sian Gwenllian.

Ms O’Brien criticised comments made by Ms Gwenllian, who described social housing as a “universal resource”. Ms O’Brien said: “It is not a universal resource. It is a national resource, and it should belong to the people of this nation.”

“Headline-grabbing”

Peter Fox, the Conservative communities spokesperson, accepted that people across Wales have concerns about the “pressure on housing”.

He said: “We believe – the Conservative Party believes – that social housing must prioritise those with a genuine and established connection to our country. We also agree that accommodation should not be provided to people who are here unlawfully.”

However Mr Fox condemned the Reform motion, describing it as “headline-grabbing” and suggesting it “falls apart the moment you examine how it would work in actual fact”.

He continued: “The reality is that Reform’s motion would not just affect the groups they want to talk about.

“It would affect foreign students renting rooms in HMOs while studying at Welsh universities, it would affect workers who have come here legally, and it would affect Irish citizens whose rights are protected under the common travel area.”

Mr Fox also acknowledged the impact Reform’s proposed plan would have on EU citizens who were given settled status after Brexit.

Adding: “These are people who were explicitly told that there would be no change to their rights if they were already lawfully resident in the United Kingdom.

“Those commitments were written into the withdrawal agreement and form part of our international obligations.”

“Divisive”

Housing minister Sian Gwenllian said “everyone in Wales should have access to a safe, warm and affordable home”.

Although she recognised the “frustration” that can be caused by long waits and poorly managed homes, Ms Gwenllian stressed the solution is not to “divide communities or to pit groups of people against each other”.

She also clarified that social housing is not provided to asylum seekers.

Suggesting the motion “misrepresents” the current system, Ms Gwenllian said: “The UK Government provides temporary accommodation while a claim is considered.

“If someone is granted refugee status – and I remind members that this means that the UK Government has found that the individual has fled from war, fear or persecution – then they may seek housing assistance under the same rules as other households.”

Concluding, she said Reform’s motion offers a “simplistic and divisive approach to a complex housing problem” and called on colleagues to support the government amendment, which “focuses on actions that can make a real difference”.

The Senedd rejected the Reform motion by 57 votes to 31, and instead agreed the Plaid Cymru Labour amendment by 51 to 37.

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