Claimed ‘new’ private landlord scheme to house asylum seekers begun by Tories
Claims in the media over the weekend that private landlords are being offered a new 'guaranteed rent' deal to house aslyum seekers are wide of the mark, The Neg can reveal.
Widespread reports over the weekend that the Home Office has begun operating a scheme that offers private landlords ‘guaranteed rent’ to house asylum seekers are wide of the mark, The Neg can reveal.
Several national newspapers made the claim, saying the ‘new’ deal is being offered to landlords following a surge in channel crossing in recent weeks during calm weather.
But the deal, which offers landlords a raft of inducements to join the scheme, has been on offer for several years and has been made via Serco, which is one of the three contractors who are paid to help the Home Office house asylum seekers. Serco was a sponsor at The Negotiator Awards in 2021, sponsoring Lettings Agent of the Year (1-3 branches), promoting their activity in the sector.
Criticism
The Serco scheme was criticised over the weekend by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philip, who said the Government was “giving a better deal in favour of illegal immigrants than people who have lived, worked and paid tax here all their lives” – although he managed a similar scheme when a Home Office minister in 2020.
Despite several newspapers linking the landlord offer to the surge in channel crossings (pictured), Serco has been trying to entice landlords to rent out their homes via its Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract for five years years as part of its Government scheme to provide “accommodation, transportation and subsistence payments for asylum seekers whilst their claims are being processed”.
The Serco website has until recently included quotes from one landlord who had been working with Serco in this way for three years.
The deal includes leases of five years or more; guaranteed no void periods or rent arrears; and repairs and maintenance provided by Serco, which also pays the property’s utility bills and the tenants’ Council Tax. Landlords also do not pay any fees or property management costs to the company.
The Government is clearly worried about the negative publicity this weekend’s media coverage has created; The Neg has discovered that the web pages offering these services, despite being online since 2020, have beem taken down.
Supporting asylum seekers
A Home Office spokesperson says: “These arrangements with the private rented sector have been in place for years, including under the previous government.
“We have a statutory duty to support destitute asylum seekers who will not be able to pay for fees such as utilities and council tax.
“We are restoring order to the asylum system and cutting costs to taxpayers by reducing the number of people we are required to accommodate through a rapid increase in asylum decision-making and the removal of more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK.”
Read more about guaranteed rent.
Nevertheless, the Renters reform bill proposes to put a stop to rent bidding wars and s21 possession claims. For a number of years the Home Office has encouraged landlord’s in the private sector to evict their current tenant with the inducement of letting the property to “destitute asylum seekers”.
Does this mean that the Government will now put an end to this practice of using landlords to evict tenants in order to remove properties from the PRS with the inducement of better terms than can be secured in the PRS? A practice that is for all intents and purposes encourages a 2 tier rental market that favours one demographic over the other, encourages evictions and inflates rents that are being paid for by tax payers?