A group of self-described “English nationalist” content creators have sparked an investigation after filming themselves entering a house used to accommodate asylum seekers, telling residents they were contractors and searching through parts of the property for “paperwork”.
The footage was uploaded by Truthhurts101UK under the title “HMO Hunting in Leicestershire” and showed three men entering the home through an unlocked back door before moving through a number of rooms.
They filmed inside the kitchen, examined the contents of the fridge, searched through letters near the front entrance and went through discarded boxes in the back garden while repeatedly saying they were trying to find paperwork connected to the accommodation.
When they encountered three men believed to be asylum seekers living at the property, the group told them they were contractors who had been sent to assess the building for repairs.
One resident asked the man filming for identification. He briefly showed him a lanyard, although it was not clear from the footage what information it contained.
The video also named the street and village where the house was located and showed the exterior and surrounding area, making the property identifiable to viewers.
It was watched more than 300,000 times after being shared on social media.
YouTube has since removed the footage.
YouTube says video breached harassment rules
A YouTube spokesperson confirmed that the video had violated its policies on harassment and cyberbullying, which include restrictions on publishing personally identifiable information.
The company said:
“Harassment and cyberbullying are not allowed on YouTube and as part of this, we do not allow content that reveals someone’s personally identifiable information.
“Upon review, we have removed the flagged video for violating our harassment and cyberbullying policies.”
The channel describes itself as being run by an “English nationalist citizen journalist” and says it covers immigration, demographic change, policing and stories it believes are overlooked elsewhere.
The footage had also been posted to an associated account on X.
Men told residents they were there to inspect repairs
The encounter inside the house is particularly concerning because the residents initially appeared to believe the men had some official reason to be there.
After entering through the rear of the property, the group told those living inside that they were contractors inspecting the building.
One of the residents confirmed when asked that the accommodation was managed by Serco, one of the private companies contracted by the Home Office to provide housing for asylum seekers.
The man filming then asked whether the resident had any “paperwork”. He said he did not.
The group continued filming throughout the property, including private living areas.
Serco has now opened an investigation.
A spokesperson said:
“We are aware of this post. We take issues of this nature extremely seriously and are investigating.”
The Home Office also condemned incidents that put people living or working in asylum accommodation at risk.
A spokesperson said:
“The safety and security of those housed in asylum accommodation, staff who work there and local communities are of the upmost importance to the government.
“We engage extensively with contractors, local authorities and the police and expect any instances of criminality to be taken seriously.”
Channel defends footage as ‘independent journalism’
Truthhurts101UK defended the video when approached by The Guardian.
A spokesperson for the account accused asylum seekers of being “ticking timebombs” and questioned why journalists were scrutinising what it described as “independent journalism”.
They added:
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep asking the questions you should be.”
The channel has previously entered another property being used to accommodate asylum seekers in Norfolk and uploaded footage from inside.
The latest incident forms part of a growing trend in which self-styled immigration “auditors” and far-right activists attempt to enter hotels and other buildings being used to house asylum seekers.
Some have presented themselves as carrying out public-interest investigations or “inspections”, while others have clashed with security guards after trying to gain access.
Campaigners warn that the move away from large hotels towards ordinary houses could make residents even more vulnerable because those properties do not necessarily have the same visible security presence.
Asylum houses becoming a new target
The government has been increasing its use of houses in multiple occupation, or HMOs, as it attempts to reduce reliance on hotels for asylum accommodation.
That change has created a new focus for activists opposed to the asylum system.
Unlike hotels, properties can sit on ordinary residential streets with little outward indication of how they are being used.
Some campaigners have obtained addresses through documents available in the public domain before sharing details within online groups.
That has raised concerns that people housed there could be identified and targeted even though they may have no control over where the Home Office or its contractors have placed them.
The Leicestershire video went considerably further than filming a building from the public highway. The men entered the home, filmed residents inside it and searched areas of the property while claiming to have been sent there as contractors.
‘A premeditated invasion into someone’s home’
Louise Calvey, executive director of Asylum Matters, described the footage as an invasion of the residents’ privacy.
She said:
“This is a premeditated invasion into someone’s home for clicks and attention.
“The people that court this are the very worst of us, they’re the ones that pose a threat – barging into people’s homes, filming in people’s private spaces. The audacity and sense of entitlement is breathtaking.”
Calvey called on the government to reconsider how information about shared asylum accommodation becomes publicly available and to provide more support to residents targeted in incidents of this kind.
She said:
“Government must urgently take steps to improve protections, remove the details of shared accommodation sites of all descriptions from the public domain, support people accommodated as victims of crimes, and escalate quicker police responses.”
Tension around asylum accommodation remains high
The incident comes during a period of intense political debate over asylum and immigration, with protests outside asylum accommodation becoming an increasingly regular occurrence in parts of the country.
Opposition to government immigration policy and peaceful protest remain lawful, but police and security officials have become increasingly concerned about intimidation, harassment and violence directed at people housed in asylum accommodation.
MI5 director general Sir Ken McCallum warned this week that investigators had seen an increase in cases where extreme versions of anti-immigration and anti-Muslim grievance were progressing towards terrorist intent.
That warning concerned a much smaller group moving towards serious violence and does not mean anti-immigration activism generally is being treated as terrorism.
The Leicestershire incident raises a different but increasingly important question: what happens when online activists move from filming and protesting in public places to entering the homes of people at the centre of Britain’s increasingly heated immigration debate.
For the residents in this case, the men who appeared in their kitchen were not government inspectors or genuine contractors.
They were filming content for social media.
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