It has been revealed that councils are being outbid as vast sums of taxpayers’ money are paid to private landlords to put up new arrivals from Calais in flats and houses.
Meanwhile, homeless Britons are forced to languish in hotel rooms for months on end.
An estate agency owned by ten London council boroughs claims a Home Office contractor has been paying ‘introduction fees’ of up to £2,000 to entice private landlords to sign contracts with them. The agency also claims that Clearsprings, the contractor in question, pay £300 a month more to landlords, which is far more than what the local authorities can afford.
The local authorities say they cannot compete as the government set a specific rental budget called the Local Housing Allowance. This budget has not been increased in the last three years despite soaring living costs.
So we have a scenario here where the government sets a price cap on money to be spent by councils then outbids them for the same properties.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the “right wing” Tory government actually prioritise foreign nationals, be they illegal or not, over its own citizens. We also see how the left wing opposition, who are the biggest champions of open boarders, can sit back and blame Tory policy for the lack of housing whilst seeing record numbers of immigration and totally admonishing themselves from responsibility.
We see and hear this week at our Erskine demonstration, local residents are increasingly frustrated as local authority chiefs, councillors and especially Gavin Newlands, the local MP, can easily swat away their concerns with a shrug and legitimately point the finger at the Home Office.
The Homeland Party believe in decentralising power away from the government down to local authority, even going as far as putting more power in the hands of elected councillors and parish/community councils. We cannot go on with government commanding councils to do one thing whilst they do another.
So, get in touch with your local MP and ask them why they stand with the Tories and their policy against the interests of the working class and especially our homeless.