Handling the media onslaught on housing and migration — September 2026 

There has been plenty of controversy over the summer. Here we pick out news items and commentary relating primarily to housing and benefits issues. 

Immigrants and social housing are caught in a political war of words 

In Inside Housing, John Perry looks at recent housing and allocations announcements from Reform and the Conservatives. When the Conservatives put forward proposals to limit migrants’ housing access, Reform responded with more drastic measures, promising to “ban foreign nationals from social housing”. 

Perry concludes: “Recent announcements have focused heavily on housing eligibility and allocation criteria linked to nationality and immigration status. If implemented, these proposals would represent a significant change in the allocation of social housing and would have far-reaching implications for many households.” 

A CIH blog also looked at the implications of the two sets of policies. 

Farage wants to deport ‘all foreign nationals’ from social housing — would that be possible? 

Inside Housing also looked in depth at the feasibility of Reform’s planned evictions from social housing and at similar Conservative plans (they would also evict many foreign nationals, giving them six months’ notice). 

Michaela Melemendi, housing and partnerships manager at Refugees at Home, says the Reform policy would “result in scores of vulnerable people, many of whom have fled unimaginable conditions, being stuck in unsafe and unsanitary hotel accommodation”. 

“This, coupled with the dwindling asylum support offered in this country, will put thousands at risk of sleeping on the streets,” she says. “Reform’s policies are yet another example of politicians scapegoating migrants and spreading misinformation instead of tackling the real issues people in this country face.” 

Reform announced that, as well as banning foreign nationals from social housing, it would also deprioritise UK nationals born overseas on council waiting lists. 

Responding to both parties’ plans, CIH director of policy, communications and external affairs, Rachael Williamson, commented: “The law already prevents most foreign nationals from accessing social housing, with people subject to immigration control generally ineligible.” 

James Dickson in UnHerd argues that Kemi Badenoch’s foreign social housing ban “doesn’t make sense”. The new Tory policy would simply put more pressure on temporary accommodation or the private rented sector, and many foreign nationals here long enough to have council tenancies would — if they could afford it — simply apply for citizenship. 

Also in Inside Housing, Antonia Bance, MP for Tipton and Wednesbury, encouraged social landlords to “set out the positive factual case” and “meet residents where they are” when responding to concerns about new homes being allocated to migrants. She also urged communications teams to be in touch with MPs “as a source of possible allyship and championship”. 

For another look at the issues, read the newsletter article by Janani Paramsothy on running social housing in “an age of five-party politics”. 

Glasgow, the UK’s asylum hub, finds itself a target for the far-right 

Some Scottish housing associations have had to close their offices due to far-right protests, when misinformation about the allocation of social homes to recently arrived immigrants began to spread. 

Police are investigating a deliberate fire at a housing association tenement in Glasgow that had previously been targeted by protesters. Positive Action in Housing points out that the building was being refurbished by NG homes when it was set on fire on 6 September. False claims had circulated online that the homes were intended exclusively for asylum seekers, or so-called “illegal migrants”. 

NG homes has confirmed that the properties will be allocated from its existing housing list in accordance with its allocations policy. PAIH warned that racist disinformation is damaging communities and taking away desperately needed homes. 

Scottish Housing News reported that housing associations are planning a “summit” to counter misinformation, amid the widespread protests. Glasgow housing convener Ruairi Kelly said he is organising a summit with housing associations, Police Scotland and others to figure out what can be done to “counter this misinformation, support communities, protect staff and residents and ensure that legitimate concerns can be discussed without intimidation, threats or disorder”. 

The FT explores the impact on Glasgow’s services, including housing, of the city having the highest proportion of asylum seekers. 

Meanwhile, nearby Greenock is a “town whose council wants migrants to move in”, according to the BBC, to stem population loss. 

Houses in multiple occupation assumed to accommodate asylum seekers 

For months, GB News has been running inflammatory stories about refugees living in “houses of multiple occupancy” (HMOs). In August, there were attacks on HMOs in Thetford for two nights running; arrests were made after police officers were injured. A man was accused of leaking asylum-seeker addresses targeted in the disorder. Protests subsequently moved to nearby RAF Barnham, which is expected to soon accommodate asylum seekers.  

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council’s leader has revealed why his plan to release a register of all HMOs in the borough has been delayed. CoventryLive reported that, at a cabinet meeting, councillor George Finch revealed he wanted to publish a full register of all HMOs in the borough online. 

He said that his party was elected on a mandate that they would be transparent about HMOs, mainly those that house asylum seekers, which has been dubbed a ‘problem’ across the two towns. However, the police have objected to the proposal, and Finch says: “So now we have to wait, and I am very, very, very frustrated because I promised the public I would get this done.” 

Emily Humphreys is a Belfast resident and wrote for Amnesty International about the racist attacks on HMOs and other homes in the city and the community-centred response that followed. The Irish News reported on those who help migrants who have since been targeted by racists.  

CIH has a new article, Understanding HMOs: A beginner’s guide to shared homes, looking at the law and issues around houses in multiple occupation, including recent racist attacks on them. 

CIH and other organisations are actively discussing the issue of handling HMO registers with MHCLG. 

More media messages target asylum seekers 

• The Daily Express had a “jaw-dropping list of what asylum seekers were given ‘for free’ in Thetford”, which includes basic items like cutlery and bed linen. As Emma Monk pointed out, the list included one roll of toilet paper. 
• “Migrant households receive record £12bn in universal credit,” says the Telegraph. Some £7.7 billion in payments went to jobless foreign nationals last year, government figures show. Around one in six (15.6%) of all universal credit payments in the past year were from households with at least one foreign national, according to data obtained under freedom of information laws. The article fails to point out that Census data shows that around 18% of households are headed by someone born outside the UK. 
• In a post on X, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, claimed that the UK’s foreign-born population was 13.1 million in 2024, and that this was “up 143% in a decade”. This isn’t true, says Full Fact — the foreign-born population of the UK was estimated to be 13.1 million in 2024, but estimates suggest the increase over the previous decade was significantly less. A calculation by the Office for National Statistics suggests the estimated increase was less than half this, at 64% over the 13-year period 2011–2024. 
• “Sweden is bribing asylum seekers to leave the country,” reports the Daily Telegraph, enthusiastically welcoming Sweden’s grants to asylum seekers and refugees who are willing to leave. They can receive around £45,000 in three instalments (two paid after they have left). 
• Reform council is hiring security guards “to protect the public from migrants”. Operation Vanguard is a response to fears over gatherings of male asylum seekers in Essex city centres.  
• UnHerd describes how the village of Piddington is holding a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK, because of plans to house up to 3,500 asylum seekers in a nearby MoD facility. 
• Britain is an integration success story, but for how much longer? — asks the Daily Telegraph. 

Shifting public attitudes towards immigration  

The Migration Observatory at Oxford University has published a new analysis of public attitudes towards immigration in Britain, examining levels of concern and how views have changed over time. The research provides useful context for organisations working with refugees and people seeking asylum. 

In the FT, the Migration Observatory’s Madeleine Sumption poses the question: “Is Britain’s migration debate asking the wrong question?” She says that the Piddington protests illustrate that humanitarian immigration is harder to manage than visa policies designed to benefit the economy. Migrants coming on work visas pay their way, but those coming for humanitarian reasons are less successful economically once here, and more likely to need ongoing state support. The debate is distorted if it focuses just on economic migrants and visa restrictions. 

A government that can’t distinguish between “legitimate concerns” and open racism is only making things worse, argues Stephen Bush in the FT. “That blind spot has both policy and political consequences…as it stands, the UK is heading towards net negative migration but without any real focus on skills or the type of person the public might want to come here.” 

Piddington shows the liberal consensus on migration is collapsing, argues Ella Whelan in The i Paper. She says: 

“What Piddington has done is give a real-life example of what those concerns [about asylum accommodation] look like, perhaps given more weight because all the residents are very polite and posh, unlike some of the more unruly objections across the country. More than a thousand men, with different cultural backgrounds, languages and customs, landing in a sleepy rural town where they’re not wanted isn’t the makings of a happy ending.” 

Writing in UnHerd, Mary Harrington also claims the Overton window has shifted, and that Reform’s proposals for a militarised response to “small boats” is now within the window, after it promoted an app at its conference where players can eliminate arriving migrants. At the same time, half of Britons are wrong about numbers of small boats, says Sky News. 

The concept of “remigration” has become worryingly visible within British online political debate, says the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. It found more than 76,000 social media posts in 2025 calling for Britain to adopt remigration policies involving the forced deportation of people with migrant backgrounds. 

Remigration Now, a pressure group founded by Steve Laws, describes itself as a movement dedicated to securing the implementation of remigration policies and presents supporters with the slogan ‘Help Save Our Country’, alongside fundraising appeals.