Debunking Myths About Social Housing

David Robinson

Centre for Regional Economic and Social ResearchSheffield Hallam University

Presentation to Yorkshire & Humber Regional Migration Partnership, 25 March 2011

Overview

myths and fears

some evidence

explaining the figures

anatomy of a moral panic

Myths and Fears

the perceptions that migrants are unfairly advantaged in the allocation of social housing is one of the most frequently alleged injustices of social housing (Trevor Phillips, 2007)

"we prioritise the needs of an individual migrant family over the entitlement others feel they have" …. "if you choose to come to Britain, should you presume the right to access social housing" (Margaret Hodge, 2007)

the number of asylum seekers granted leave to remain outstrips the number of social rented units being built, therefore immigration is putting considerable strain on social housing (Migrationwatch UK, 2007)

"Hodge deserves a word of compliment from the BNP for her efforts to raise the thorny issue of social housing for native Britons, an issue that has been in our manifesto for years" (BNP, 2007)

The Mail 28/09/07 - "10,000 council houses given to immigrants in a year"

Daily Telegraph 02/07/07 - "200,000 social homes given to immigrants"

Daily Express 14/01/08 - "four of out every 10 new homes built will be needed to accommodate the ever growing number of migrants flooding to Britain in the next two decades"

Some Evidence

COntinuous REcording (CORE) - data on new tenants in social housing (HA and LA tenancies) (Robinson, 2007)

Labour Force Survey (LFS) - data on households in the UK, based on a quarterly survey (IPPR, 2009)

Nationality of new social tenants 2006/07 (CORE)

• < 5% of social housing allocated to foreign nationals• < 1% to A8 nationals• only 1 of 185 HA lettings in 2007 in Barking and Dagenham was to A8 national

A8 New Tenants as a proportion of all new tenants 2006/07 (CORE)

• proportion of lettings to A8 nationals varied little across the regions

Distribution of new lettings to A8 nationals across the English regions 2007 (CORE)

• largest number of lettings were outside London

Nationality of New Tenants, by Region (2006-2010)

East Midlands

East of England London

North East

North West

South East

South West

West Midlands

Yorkshire & the Humber Total

UK national resident in UK 93.7% 93.6% 87.9% 97.8% 94.7% 95.9% 96.7% 93.8% 94.1% 94.3%

UK national returning from overseas

0.5% 0.7% 1.6% 0.3% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.4% 0.6%

A10 2.3% 2.6% 1.4% 0.4% 2.0% 1.0% 0.8% 1.8% 1.6% 1.6%

Bulgaria 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Czech Republic 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.2% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%

Estonia 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Hungary 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1%

Latvia 0.3% 0.2% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1%

Lithuania 0.2% 0.7% 0.3% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.2%

Poland 1.3% 1.4% 0.6% 0.4% 1.3% 0.7% 0.7% 1.2% 1.1% 1.0%

Romania 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Slovakia 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%

Slovenia 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Other European Economic Area country

0.8% 1.1% 2.4% 0.2% 0.6% 0.7% 0.6% 0.7% 0.5% 0.8%

Any other country 2.5% 2.0% 6.7% 1.2% 2.4% 1.9% 1.3% 3.2% 3.2% 2.7%

Total 77,772 89,474 84,354 75,746 167,606 105,538 75,817 98,752 99,543 874,641

Housing tenure distribution by country of birth, 2006/07 (LFS)

• < 2% new migrants (arrived in last 5 years) in social housing• 11% of new migrants allocated to social housing in 2007• 17% of UK born residents allocated to social housing in 2007

Regional distribution of foreign-born social tenants 2007 (LFS)

Yorkshire and Humberside 4.9%

Explaining the Figures

availability - correlation between cost of housing and proportion of foreign born residents in social housing

eligibility - tightly governed by statutory regulations - differential rights depending upon immigration controls and resident status

applying for social housing - skilled players of the British welfare state?

allocation policy and practice - choice limited to less popular parts of the social rented stock

The Anatomy of a Moral Panic

Five general features of a moral panic (Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994):

1. A heightened level of concern about an issue or offending behaviour and its consequences for society

2. A folk devil is created, whose behaviour is considered threatening to society and therefore represents the target of hostility

3. There is a consensus that a real threat is posed by the behaviour of this group’s members

4. The concern raised is disproportionate to the objective threat posed

5. The panic is characterised by volatility, coming to the fore apparently out of nowhere, perhaps subsiding equally quickly but often having the capacity to reappear with time

The Mail 09/04/08 - reporting on EHRC research findings - "more than one million immigrants live in homes paid for by the taxpayer"