Handling the media onslaught on housing and migration — July 2026 

The Housing Rights newsletter will continue to focus on ways to handle the attacks on migrants and put forward positive messages promoting community cohesion. Here are the latest news and comments.

Leadership in Action: Challenging misinformation and standing up for our communities 

Ulfat Hussain, the chief executive of Arawak Housing, along with Anna Bishop, CEO of South Liverpool Homes, took part in the Housing 2026 conference in Manchester. Ulfat spoke about one of the most pressing issues facing our sector: the rise of misinformation about immigration and housing and the urgent role of leadership in fighting back. Here is what he had to say. 

Scotland’s housing providers tackle cohesion issues 

• Shelter Scotland and Wheatley undertake independent anti-racist review of services. A new project is reviewing how Shelter Scotland and Wheatley services are delivered in Glasgow for Black people and people of colour through an anti-racist lens, so that they can better meet the needs of communities.   
• Govanhill Housing Association publishes new anti-racist policy. It sets out how the association will actively support residents in their neighbourhood. As part of this work, GHA has signed up to Refuweegee’s Safe with Me initiative, joining a network of organisations across Glasgow committed to offering safe spaces for people in need. 
• “Civic mediation” in Scotland. The Centre for Good Relations is a not-for-profit company that works on a range of projects across the country. Its core work uses mediative processes to seek constructive ways through societal challenges, valuing the role of building relationships to bring about effective change and working to transform conflict. 
• New Scots refugee integration strategy. The Scottish Government’s refugee integration strategy sets out a vision of a “welcoming Scotland”, where people are able to rebuild their lives from the day they arrive. 

Birmingham community cohesion report highlights growing concerns 

The West Midlands SMP’s latest newsletter highlights a new report, Birmingham VCFSE Community Cohesion Summit: Mobilising the City, published by Birmingham Voluntary Service Council and Birmingham Race Impact Group. It identifies growing concerns about racism, hate incidents and a declining sense of safety across the city’s communities. 

Based on discussions from a February 2026 Community Cohesion Summit, the report discusses community tensions, a lack of trust in current responses, and the impact of wider pressures such as poverty, housing insecurity and cuts to community services. 

New template motion for councils on Home Office immigration raids 

The Migrant Champions Network argues that immigration raids blight our communities, tearing people from their homes and making everyone less safe. But with the right knowledge and connections, local councillors can help to resist them and bring communities together. 

They have produced a template motion, which can be presented to a council, to reject complicity with Home Office raids, as well as rejecting the government’s latest policy changes to earned settlement and asylum. 

They would be happy to support councillors who want to propose this to their councils — contact the network at info@migrantchampionsnetwork.org. 

Reform’s latest plans to exclude migrants from social housing 

Before resigning as an MP, Nigel Farage produced his Mass Deportation (Detention) Bill (pdf). It obliges the Home Office to create detention centres for 24,000 people. 

In Housing Today, Daniel Gayne asked whether “a Reform government will really force foreign nationals from their social homes”. His article quotes CIH’s John Perry and other sources. 

On Substack, Tom Watson said: “This is a Bill about freeing a minister from the law.” Also on Substack, Pete Apps argued that Reform’s proposals are “a racist misrepresentation of what social housing is and who gets it”. 

New Grimsby homes aren’t ‘exclusively for immigrants’ 

A video of a housing estate in Lincolnshire has been shared thousands of times online alongside claims that a local social housing provider has purchased a hundred new homes on the development “exclusively for immigrants”. But this simply isn’t true, Full Fact points out. 

A Home Office spokesperson said: “New houses should never house asylum seekers. Earlier this year, the Home Secretary introduced robust processes to ensure new-build sites like Stoke Heath can never be considered again.” 

Latest sources and guides on tackling false messages and promoting cohesion 

• TPAS Cymru has an excellent guide called Facts Over Fear: New Tenant Guide on Immigration, Asylum & Social Housing 
• Hope not Hate has a set of resources on tackling hate incidents 
• In Tamworth, the Belong Project has been running the Honest Conversation project 
• The Housing Diversity Network argues that housing leaders need to be allies, not just supporters 
• The Migrants’ Rights Network’s We Keep Each Other Safe is a practical guide for migrants in the UK on keeping safe from far-right violence, co-developed through research with migrants and migrant-led organisations. 

Finally, CIH has a blog on Front-facing housing management: Defending community cohesion against unrest. CIH members have access to the Knowledge Hub, where they can find a page on community cohesion, which is regularly updated with the latest news and guidance.