PM wants residency test for housing

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 24 Maret 2013 | 19.21

23 March 2013 Last updated at 23:45 ET

Immigrant families will be kept off council house waiting lists in England for at least two years, under plans set to be announced by the prime minister.

Downing St said David Cameron would say on Monday that councils would have to introduce a residency test to stop immigrants gaining immediate access.

Local authorities can already set their own criteria, but many do not.

The Bishop of Dudley said politicians' response to immigration was "wholly disproportionate".

Both Labour leader Ed Miliband and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg have recently given speeches on immigration.

And a poll conducted in Eastleigh on the day of the by-election on February 28 suggested 55% of people who voted for UKIP - which came second - said the issue was their biggest reason for supporting the party.

Migrant 'expectations'

The government says about 9% of new social lettings go to foreign nationals, a rise from 6.5% in 2007/08.

Mr Cameron will say that the government will issue statutory guidance to local authorities.

He wants to remove "any expectation that new migrants can expect the British taxpayer to give them a home on arrival".

Boris Johnson on The Andrew Marr Show

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Boris Johnson told the Andrew Marr show he is in favour of "talented" immigration

A social housing applicant would have to live in an area for between two and five years before going on the waiting list.

He is expected to say that "this will stop someone from turning up and immediately gaining access to social housing."

Exceptions will be in place for British residents who have to move for genuine reasons, such as work or because of a family breakdown.

Mr Cameron's announcement comes days after his deputy prime minister, Mr Clegg, made his biggest intervention to date in the debate on immigration and at a time when concerns have been raised about the potential influx of migrants from Bulgaria and Romania when movement restrictions are loosened at the end of the year.

Mr Clegg called for cash deposits of more than £1,000 for some migrants from "high risk" countries, to be taken with their visa applications and repaid when they leave the UK.

The Bishop of Dudley, the Right Reverend David Walker, told the Observer that politicians' response to immigration was "wholly disproportionate".

"Public fears around immigration are like fears around crime. They bear little relationship to the actual reality," he said.

Rich-poor gap

The bishop, who served on the board of the National Housing Federation, said: "The tone of the current debate suggests that it is better for 10 people with a legitimate reason for coming to this country to be refused entry than for one person to get in who has no good cause. It is wholly disproportionate as a response."

He added: "Studies show that the vast majority of new arrivals to the UK enhance and enrich our society, both economically and culturally. The true threats to our national wellbeing lie not with those who come to visit or make their lives here but with the increasing gap between the rich and poor among us."

Labour leader Ed Miliband recently admitted the last Labour government did not do enough for ordinary people, becoming distant on issues such as immigration.

"But high levels of migration were having huge effects on the lives of people in Britain - and too often those in power seemed not to accept this," he said in January.

"The fact that they didn't explains partly why people turned against us in the last general election."


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