{"id":552,"date":"2026-07-24T13:58:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/?p=552"},"modified":"2026-07-27T15:08:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T14:08:55","slug":"handling-the-media-onslaught-on-housing-and-migration-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/handling-the-media-onslaught-on-housing-and-migration-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Handling the media onslaught on housing and migration \u2014 July 2026\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Leadership in Action: Challenging&nbsp;misinformation and&nbsp;standing&nbsp;up for&nbsp;our&nbsp;communities<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ulfat Hussain, the chief executive of Arawak Housing,&nbsp;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.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bmenational.co.uk\/post\/leadership-in-action-challenging-misinformation-and-standing-up-for-our-communities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">Here is what he had to say<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Scotland\u2019s housing providers tackle cohesion issues<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em>Shelter Scotland and Wheatley undertake independent anti-racist review of services.<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scotland.shelter.org.uk\/media\/press_releases\/shelter_scotland_and_wheatley_undertake_independent_anti-racist_review_of_services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">new project<\/a>&nbsp;is reviewing how Shelter Scotland and Wheatley services are delivered in Glasgow for Black&nbsp;people and people of colour through an anti-racist lens, so that they can better meet the needs of communities.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>Govanhill Housing Association publishes new anti-racist policy.<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;It sets out how the association will actively support residents in their neighbourhood. As part of this work, GHA has signed up to&nbsp;Refuweegee\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.refuweegee.co.uk\/safewithme\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\"><em>Safe with Me<\/em>&nbsp;initiative<\/a>,&nbsp;joining a network of organisations across Glasgow committed to offering safe spaces for people in need.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>\u201cCivic mediation\u201d&nbsp;in Scotland.<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/centreforgoodrelations.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">Centre for Good Relations<\/a>&nbsp;is a not-for-profit company&nbsp;that works&nbsp;on a range of projects&nbsp;across&nbsp;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.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><em>New Scots refugee integration strategy.<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;The Scottish Government\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.scot\/publications\/new-scots-refugee-integration-strategy-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">refugee integration strategy<\/a>\u202fsets out a vision of a&nbsp;\u201cwelcoming Scotland\u201d,&nbsp;where people&nbsp;are able to&nbsp;rebuild their lives from the day they arrive.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Birmingham community cohesion report highlights growing concerns<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The West Midlands SMP\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wolverhampton.gov.uk\/west-midlands-strategic-migration-partnership\/news\/newsletters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">latest newsletter<\/a>&nbsp;highlights&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bvsc.org\/news\/communities-urge-bold-leadership-and-investment-to-tackle-racism-and-exclusion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">a new report<\/a>,&nbsp;<em>Birmingham VCFSE Community Cohesion Summit: Mobilising the City<\/em>, published by Birmingham Voluntary Service Council and Birmingham Race Impact Group. It&nbsp;identifies&nbsp;growing concerns about racism, hate incidents and a declining sense of safety across the city\u2019s communities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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&nbsp;insecurity&nbsp;and cuts to community services.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>New template motion for councils on Home Office immigration raids<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.migrantchampionsnetwork.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">Migrant Champions Network<\/a>&nbsp;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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They have produced a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.migrantchampionsnetwork.org\/resources-for-councillors\/template-motion-opposing-home-office-immigration-policy-and-refusing-complicity-with-raids\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">template motion<\/a>,&nbsp;which can&nbsp;be presented to a council, to reject complicity with Home Office raids, as well as rejecting the government\u2019s latest policy changes to earned settlement and asylum.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They would be happy to support councillors who want to propose this to their councils&nbsp;\u2014 contact the network at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:info@migrantchampionsnetwork.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">info@migrantchampionsnetwork.org<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reform\u2019s latest plans to exclude migrants from social housing<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before resigning as an MP, Nigel Farage produced his Mass Deportation (Detention) Bill (<a href=\"https:\/\/votegreengetillegals.com\/mass-deportation-detention-bill.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">pdf<\/a>). It obliges the Home Office to create detention centres for 24,000 people.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In&nbsp;<em>Housing Today,&nbsp;<\/em>Daniel Gayne&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.housingtoday.co.uk\/in-focus\/could-a-reform-government-really-force-foreign-nationals-from-their-social-homes\/5142911.article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">asked<\/a>&nbsp;whether&nbsp;\u201ca Reform government will really force foreign nationals from their social homes\u201d.&nbsp;His article quotes CIH\u2019s John Perry and other sources.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On&nbsp;<em>Substack<\/em>, Tom Watson&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/tomwatsonofficial.substack.com\/p\/the-bill-that-puts-a-minister-above\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">said<\/a>: \u201cThis is a Bill about freeing a minister from the law.\u201d&nbsp;Also on&nbsp;<em>Substack<\/em>, Pete Apps&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/peteapps.substack.com\/p\/nigel-farages-housing-policy-is-a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">argued<\/a>&nbsp;that Reform\u2019s proposals are&nbsp;\u201ca racist misrepresentation of what social housing is and who gets it\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>New Grimsby homes&nbsp;aren\u2019t&nbsp;\u2018exclusively for immigrants\u2019<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A video of a housing estate in Lincolnshire has been shared thousands of times online alongside claims that a local social housing provider has&nbsp;purchased&nbsp;a hundred new homes on the development \u201cexclusively for immigrants\u201d.&nbsp;But this simply&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;true,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/fullfact.org\/immigration\/grimsby-immigrants-ferriby-fields-false\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\"><em>Full Fact&nbsp;<\/em>points out<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gbnews.com\/politics\/shabana-mahmood-bans-migrant-new-build-homes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">Home Office spokesperson said<\/a>: &#8220;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.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Latest sources and guides on tackling false messages and promoting cohesion<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>TPAS Cymru has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tpas.cymru\/blog\/facts-over-fear-new-tenant-guide-on-immigration-asylum-social-housing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">an excellent guide<\/a>&nbsp;called&nbsp;<em>Facts Over Fear: New Tenant Guide on Immigration, Asylum &amp; Social Housing<\/em>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hope not Hate has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/hopenothate.org.uk\/action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">a set of resources<\/a>&nbsp;on tackling hate incidents&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In Tamworth,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/belongnetwork.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">the Belong Project<\/a>&nbsp;has been running the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/tamworth.moderngov.co.uk\/documents\/s41304\/Appendix%201%20Honest%20Conversations%20Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\"><em>Honest Conversation<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;project&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Housing Diversity Network&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.housingdiversitynetwork.co.uk\/why-housing-leaders-need-to-be-allies-not-just-supporters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">argues that<\/a>&nbsp;housing&nbsp;leaders need to be allies, not just supporters&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Migrants\u2019 Rights Network\u2019s&nbsp;<em>We Keep Each Other Safe<\/em>&nbsp;is a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/migrantsrights.org.uk\/projects\/we-keep-each-other-safe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">practical guide<\/a>&nbsp;for migrants in the UK on keeping safe from far-right violence, co-developed through research with migrants and migrant-led organisations.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, CIH has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cih.org\/blogs\/front-facing-housing-management-defending-community-cohesion-against-unrest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">a blog<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<em>Front-facing housing management: Defending community cohesion against unrest<\/em>.\u00a0CIH members have access to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cih.org\/knowledge-hub\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">Knowledge Hub<\/a>, where they can find a page on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cih.org\/knowledge-hub\/tenants-and-residents\/community-cohesion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"\">community cohesion<\/a>, which is regularly updated with the latest news and guidance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","slim_seo":{"title":"Handling the media onslaught on housing and migration \u2014 July 2026\u00a0 - Housing Rights","description":"The Housing Rights newsletter will continue to focus on ways to handle the attacks on migrants and put forward positive messages promoting community cohesion. H"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-guides"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":591,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552\/revisions\/591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housing-rights.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}