Landlords are being offered rents of up to twice the market rate to house asylum seekers, prompting accusations that British families are being pushed aside under Labour. The deals, offered by accommodation provider Clearsprings Ready Homes, include three-year contracts and payments covering bills, council tax and maintenance.
One landlord in Southwark, south London, said he had been offered £4,500 a month for a three-bedroom flat to house migrants. That compares with £1,790 a month offered by Southwark Council for the same property to house social housing tenants. The landlord described the offer as “nuts”, claiming he would have had to terminate his existing agreement with the council and risk leaving families homeless to take it up.
He told The Sun: “I already rent to Southwark Council, and they are able to offer significantly more than the local authority, which to me is bizarre.”
He added: “I didn’t go with them because it would have meant terminating my contract with Southwark Council and putting families at serious risk of homelessness. I am not prepared to do that.”
The revelation has sparked criticism over the use of public money to secure accommodation for asylum seekers while families struggle to find affordable homes.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It is a day of shame for Labour that hard-working Brits are being kicked out of flats so they can be let out at twice the price for illegal immigrants.”
Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick also criticised the arrangements, saying: “This is everything that’s wrong with broken Britain.”
He added: “The Government is spending millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to roll out the red carpet for illegal migrants, while leaving domestic abuse victims as afterthoughts.”
Mr Jenrick said a Reform government would put veterans and victims of domestic abuse first for housing.
Read More: Fury at Labour’s ‘nuts’ deal to offer landlords double rent to house migrants
