One in ten council houses is now occupied by a foreigner, official figures from the Department for Communities and local government (DCLG) has revealed.
According to the statistics, 27,000 council tenants are foreign nationals. The number of homes occupied by Eastern Europeans has also doubled since 2010 when the coalition came to power, to four per cent.
Housing minister Brandon Lewis claimed the figures were set to fall as the government had introduced new guidance to ‘ensure councils are completely clear about who they have given social homes to, so communities can be confident they are not losing out’.
He added: ‘For years, families suffered the blatant unfairness of watching as people with no job or connection to the local area were given council homes. Under this government new rules make crystal clear that local people and members of the Armed Forces are at the front of the queue for council homes in their area.’
A local Government Association spokesman said: ‘It is in everyone’s interest to remove unnecessary barriers which prevent homes being made available to those people who desperately need them.
‘Councils are keen to play their part in this and could go further and faster to support the development of badly needed new homes if Government gave councils greater financial flexibility.’
