Nigel Farage’s party will formally unveil the policy in London today, with deputy leader Richard Tice expected to set out a wider overhaul of how council and social homes are allocated.
Under the proposals, British-born workers would receive greater priority, with married couples under 35 who have children also pushed towards the front of the queue. Veterans would receive preferential treatment too, though members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families already benefit from additional protections under the current system.
The most striking part of the policy is that the distinction wouldn’t simply be between British citizens and foreign nationals. British citizens who were born abroad would also receive lower priority than people born in the UK. Reform says there would be exemptions for some people, including British citizens born overseas because their British parents were temporarily living abroad. Party officials have acknowledged that legislation would be required to introduce the policy without falling foul of existing laws.
Reform says young workers are being locked out
Tice says Reform wants to reshape the system around employment and what the party describes as the needs of younger British families. “There are now 1.3 million people waiting for social housing in Britain,” he said, arguing that too many young workers remain living with their parents or sharing rented homes because they have little prospect of accessing affordable housing. “It is time for us to prioritise young British workers, and that is what our policy is about.”
Under the proposals, British-born people in employment would be prioritised alongside married couples under 35 with children. Reform says it also wants to build 50,000 affordable social homes every year. Tice, who worked in property development before entering frontline politics, said he wanted to “break down the barriers” preventing younger people from getting homes: “Britain’s housing market is broken. Housing needs Reform.”
British citizens born overseas would be treated differently
This goes further than Reform’s previous proposals on nationality and social housing. Farage has already promised a Reform government would bar foreign nationals from accessing social housing. Monday’s announcement introduces a distinction between different groups of British citizens instead, someone who’s obtained British citizenship but was born outside the country could receive less priority than a citizen born in Britain.
The Guardian reports Reform would exempt those born overseas while their British parents were temporarily abroad. Beyond that exception, the party says being born in Britain would become an important factor in deciding priority. Reform hasn’t yet published the detailed system councils would use to balance birthplace against other factors like homelessness, disability, domestic abuse, overcrowding or the presence of children. More detail is expected when Tice formally launches the policy later on Monday.
Farage previously promised to remove foreign nationals from social housing
These proposals build on a much tougher policy Farage announced earlier this summer, where foreign nationals already living in social housing would be given three months to find accommodation in the private rented sector, or lose their right to remain in Britain and face deportation under Reform’s wider immigration proposals. Reform claims more than half a million social homes are currently occupied by foreign nationals, and that removing them from the sector would release hundreds of thousands of properties for British households.
Current eligibility rules already prevent many categories of migrant from accessing social housing, though. A Labour spokesperson said illegal migrants, asylum seekers and people in Britain on student or work visas are generally not eligible in the first place, meaning Reform’s proposals would actually affect long-term residents with legal status, including people working in sectors like the NHS.
Labour brands the plan ‘unworkable’
Labour has attacked the proposals before their formal launch, with a spokesperson describing them as “unserious and unworkable” and accusing Reform of trying to distract from recent rows inside the party. Labour also warned that changing eligibility and priority rules could increase homelessness and leave councils paying more for temporary accommodation.
The government is instead pursuing its own affordable-housing programme, backed by a £39bn funding package. According to The Guardian, around 60% of that funding is expected to go towards social housing, with the government targeting an average of about 18,000 new social homes a year over a decade. Reform says its much larger target of 50,000 annually could be achieved without additional taxation or borrowing, though the party hasn’t yet explained in detail how the construction programme would actually be financed. Tice is expected to address funding at Monday’s press conference.
Shelter warns vulnerable families could lose out
Housing charity Shelter has also strongly criticised the proposal. Chief executive Sarah Elliott warned that prioritising nationality, birthplace and employment over housing need could have serious consequences for vulnerable households. She said moving away from a system that prioritises people who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness could leave more families stuck in temporary accommodation, and cause particular problems for people escaping domestic abuse.
The current social-housing system is largely administered by local councils, which operate allocation schemes within national legal requirements, generally giving greater priority to people with urgent housing needs, though exact rules differ between areas. Reform’s proposals would require those priorities to be substantially rewritten.
Reform putting housing at the centre of its pitch
This announcement is the latest in a series of major policy launches from Farage’s party as it tries to move from campaigning against the establishment towards presenting an actual programme for government. Last week Reform unveiled sweeping welfare changes. It’s also set out much tougher immigration policies and promised to abolish indefinite leave to remain for many migrants. Its official policy platform states that Reform wants welfare to support British citizens and says foreign nationals should no longer receive welfare payments. Housing now forms another part of that broader “British citizens first” agenda.
But Monday’s announcement creates a further dividing line by proposing different treatment even among people who already hold British citizenship. Whether that survives legal scrutiny, and how Reform intends councils to actually implement it, will be among the questions facing Tice when he unveils the full proposals later today.
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