CIH response to Reform’s proposals on social housing

Over the weekend Nigel Farage published a substack article which touches on Reform’s proposals for the future of the UK, including social housing.

As the professional body for housing, we’ve issued the statement below to address disparities regarding social housing within the article. 

Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “Access to social housing in England is already governed by clear legal eligibility and allocation rules, with the vast majority of homes let to UK citizens and priority given to those in greatest need. Allocation is based on citizenship and legal eligibility - not place of birth. It’s important to recognise that many UK citizens - including well-known public figures like Boris Johnson and Joanna Lumley - were born outside the UK.
 
“Proposals that would remove security of tenure from people who are lawfully resident risk being both unfair and increasing homelessness, placing additional pressure on local authorities and undermining community stability. The evidence is clear that the primary driver of the housing crisis is a longstanding shortage of genuinely affordable homes, not the nationality of those who occupy them.
 
“We would urge all policymakers to focus on increasing the supply of social and affordable housing, supporting local allocation systems to meet need fairly, and ensuring that housing policy remains practical, lawful and rooted in evidence.”