Farage to Evict Foreign Nationals From Council Housing, Vows to Clear 1.3 Million Waiting List
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage unveils plan to evict foreign nationals from council housing and deport those who cannot relocate within three months, prioritizing 1.34 million British citizens on social housing waiting lists.
One in ten new social homes in Britain now goes to foreign citizens while 1.34 million British households wait for housing. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage pledged Thursday to evict foreign nationals from council housing and deport those who cannot find private accommodation within three months, vowing to clear the waiting list by prioritizing veterans and long-term local residents.
Farage laid out the policy in a Substack essay that introduces strict residency tests for social housing. The plan confronts a system he says has failed British citizens while allocating thousands of subsidized tenancies to non-citizens.
Britain's housing crisis shows why the shift matters. Shelter research indicates it would take 119 years to clear current waiting lists at existing construction rates. British families languish in temporary accommodation while the system continues granting social housing to foreign nationals.
"Foreign nationals who are unable to relocate to private rented accommodation after a three-month grace period will lose their right to remain and be liable for deportation under Operation Restoring Justice," Farage wrote.
The Reform leader specified that "residency and preference requirements for social housing will be used to ensure that veterans and long-term local residents will be preferenced for social housing, with exceptions only for groups like domestic abuse survivors and care leavers."
Data from the Migration Observatory reveals how the allocation imbalance has grown. The proportion of new lettings to non-UK nationals rose from 6 percent to 10 percent between 2007 and 2023. Government statistics for 2024-25 confirm 20,000 non-EEA nationals received new lettings alongside 10,000 European nationals.
Southwark Council demonstrates the scale of the problem. More than 18,000 households wait for permanent housing in the borough. Approximately 4,000 live in temporary accommodation. Some applicants have waited over five years.
The council recently recovered a Walworth flat from Sierra Leone's First Lady after a 12-month investigation into improper tenancy. The case underscores how the current system allocates scarce housing resources.
Government spokesmen defend existing rules, stating "illegal migrants, asylum seekers and migrants on student or work visas are not eligible for social housing" and noting "nearly nine in 10 social homes go to UK nationals."
These same "tough local connection rules" have not stopped the waiting list from reaching its highest level since 2014. They have not halted the steady rise in foreign national tenancies over 15 years.
The announcement also settles an internal Reform UK dispute. Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick argued in May that migrants would not face automatic deportation for council housing occupancy. Home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf insisted any foreign national in subsidized housing "automatically fail[s] our economic test and will be deported."
Farage's essay adopts Yusuf's position. The move demonstrates the party leader's control over Reform's sovereignty agenda.
The housing policy connects to Operation Restoring Justice, Reform's broader immigration overhaul. University of Oxford analysis notes the program entails "leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, repealing the UK's Human Rights Act, and 'disapplying' for five years the Refugee Convention."
Farage rejects international constraints he says prevent Britain from putting its citizens first.
Political pressure helped drive the announcement. Polling for next week's Makerfield by-election shows Reform candidate Robert Kenyon trailing Labour's Andy Burnham 40 percent to 45 percent. Restore Britain's candidate polls at 8 percent.
Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain party threatens to peel away Reform's right flank by advocating even more aggressive deportation policies. Farage's housing eviction plan serves as a direct counter to that challenge.
The policy aims to reclaim working-class voters who feel the state has abandoned them.
"Social housing should no longer be available to non-British citizens," Farage declared in a follow-up X post.
The policy establishes a principle familiar to families on waiting lists: British taxpayers who fund social housing deserve priority access when scarcity leaves millions waiting.