Labour’s plan to pay landlords to house Channel migrants could soon see thousands of properties taken up across 120 different communities, a newly revealed list shows. Serco, the company handling asylum accommodation, is now calling on landlords, investors, and property agents across the North West, Midlands, and East of England to lease homes to them for more than five years.
In their promotional material, Serco proudly states it already manages over 30,000 asylum seekers in what it describes as an “ever-growing” portfolio of more than 7,000 properties. But despite councils already feeling stretched to breaking point by the Channel migrant crisis, Serco is still looking to expand, reported the Express.
One council leader told LBC: “It’s Serco who are encouraging landlords to exploit taxpayers, then it’s blamed on councils because of the impact it has on local rents, services and social cohesion. I don’t think it’s good for the fabric of society or the individuals involved.”
Putting migrants into houses, flats or bedsits costs around £14 a night, according to the National Audit Office — a bargain compared to the £145 a night price tag of putting them up in hotels.
Labour has widened the use of landlords to try and move migrants out of costly hotels, where more than 38,000 people are currently staying, racking up a daily bill of £5.5 million. Another 65,707 are already in different forms of accommodation.
Serco’s list shows which towns and cities might be next. Communities across East Anglia, the Midlands and the North West — places like Ipswich, Leicester, Manchester and Liverpool — are all listed as potential locations.
However, the Home Office has pushed back, saying: “The list of local authorities Serco shared on its website for landlords is not a Home Office list, nor is it a list of any existing or future asylum accommodation.”
They added: “Serco is one of several companies contracted by the previous government six years ago to provide dispersal asylum accommodation in different regions, and this list simply appears to reflect the geographical list of local authorities covered by the Serco contracts at that time. We are restoring order to the asylum system and cutting costs to taxpayers by reducing the number of people we are required to accommodate through a rapid increase in asylum decision-making and the removal of more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK.”
A Serco spokesperson also clarified: “The list of councils on our website reflects local authority areas covered by our Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contract, which we have had for six years with the Home Office. This does not indicate the Government will be opening new accommodation in these areas.”
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