Property market fears over homes for asylum seekers

HOME Office plans to buy hundreds of properties for asylum seekers could make "the acute shortage of housing" even worse, warn council leaders.

- Jonathan Walker

The Government is to purchase up to 800 properties in an attempt to rehouse the 35,000 asylum seekers currently languishing in hotels at a cost to taxpayers of £5.4million every day.

The number has risen by nearly 6,000 since the election despite Labour's vow to "end asylum hotels".

It follows Labour's decision to scrap the previous government's policy of placing asylum seekers in large sites such as disused prisons and military bases even though almost £80million had already been spent on this scheme.

The Local Government Association, which represents councils across the country, says providing homes for asylum seekers risks making it harder to provide homes for existing residents.