Labour’s plans to house illegal immigrants in new-build social housing have been blasted by critics as a disgrace, which they claim puts migrants ahead of veterans and the homeless. The £100 million pilot scheme, which will enable councils to build new properties solely for asylum seekers, has garnered around 200 expressions of interest from local authorities. Councils will be able to use the funding to either build new properties or refurbish existing ones.

But the move has been blasted by critics, who have suggested that the Government is “prioritising illegal migrants over the British public”. Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, said that there were “more than 1.3 million people on the waiting list for council housing and yet thanks to Labour, people who come to this country illegally will jump to the front of the queue.”

Mr Philp lampooned the proposal as a “disgrace”, telling the Express: “Labour have no idea how to get the migrant crisis under control and instead are splurging more and more taxpayers’ money to accommodate asylum seekers. Only the Conservatives have a BORDERS plan to fix the problem by leaving the ECHR and deporting all illegal migrants.”.

The Government’s wider approach to using social housing to accommodate people born overseas also drew criticism. According to the 2021 Census, the estimated total number of social housing households in England which are headed by someone born outside the UK is around 790,000.

Critics have panned the figure, which includes people who are UK citizens, as a “social housing system that rewards recent arrivals who haven’t paid into the system while leaving British citizens, including veterans, people with disabilities and pensioners, without suitable housing.”

Reform MP, Lee Anderson, said that a Reform Government would “end welfare benefit entitlement for foreign nationals and we will terminate Universal Credit payments”. He added that they would also end the housing element of benefits for all foreign nationals after a three-month grace period.

“When that grace period ends they will be expected to pay their own rent or vacate social housing in all but the most severe hardship cases,” he added. “It’s only right that those who have lived, worked hard and paid taxes in this country for their whole lives should be prioritised when it comes to social housing.”

The Department for Communities did not provide data on the number of illegal migrants currently housed in social housing across England.

Across the wider country, some 1.33 million households are reported to be on social housing waiting lists, with the Home Office currently responsible for sourcing accommodation for around 100,000 asylum seekers.

The Government pilot scheme is designed to enable local authorities to purchase additional properties, including those in new developments where sales are not being completed, thereby allowing councils to increase their social housing stock.

It comes after widespread anti-immigration protests across the country, including outside of hotels, which are currently being used to house migrants. The Government has promised to wrap up the use of such hotels by 2029, which means their occupants will need to be rehoused.

The Home Office has repeatedly stressed that it will “close every asylum hotel”, and that it was working with local councils and authorities to secure more suitable accommodation.