Reform says it will prioritise British-born workers under 35 for social housing
Nigel Farage’s party said it would also give precedence to veterans and married couples with children.
Reform UK are pledging to prioritise British-born workers under 35 when allocating social housing.
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Nigel Farage’s party said it would also give precedence to veterans and married couples with children.
The party has already said it would evict foreign nationals from social housing.
Housing charity Shelter hit out at the move, saying the solution to the social housing crisis is building more homes rather than “changing the order of the queue”.
Reform UK MP Richard Tice will also set out a plan for the party to build 50,000 affordable social homes a year, which he says will require no new taxes or borrowing, at a press conference on Monday.
Shelter says 90,000 a year are needed over the next decade.
Mr Tice said: “There are now 1.3 million people waiting for social housing in Britain. The vast majority of them do not have jobs.
“In terms of the social houses we have, less than half of households are in work and over half a million social homes are currently occupied by foreign nationals.
“Meanwhile, young British men and women, who are working hard, can’t afford to move out of their family home, and when they do often find themself sharing a house with strangers, with no realistic prospect of forming a family or getting on.
“It is time for us to prioritise young British workers, and that is what our policy is about.”
Shelter said a change from strict rules already in place to allocate social housing based on who has the greatest need would put more people at risk of homelessness.
Sarah Elliott, the charity’s chief executive, said: “Reform’s plans to change how social housing is allocated are a blatant distraction from the real cause of the housing emergency, which is decades of political failure to build enough genuinely affordable social homes – not because any one group has had an unfair advantage.
“The solution is building more social homes, not changing the order of the queue.”
She said Reform’s plans were “designed to stoke division” and would only serve to tear communities apart and put more people at risk of homelessness.
“Putting nationality and employment ahead of housing need, and moving away from a system designed to prioritise people who are homeless or at urgent risk of homelessness could leave even more families trapped in awful temporary accommodation for years on end.
“Not to mention putting those escaping domestic abuse and violence at serious risk of harm.
“There are already strict rules on who can access social housing, and councils are legally required to prioritise people in greatest housing need.”
She urged politicians to focus on building 90,000 social rent homes a year for the next decade.
UK or Irish nationals made up 88.5% of main householders – the person in whose name the social home is rented – in 2024/25, while 11.5% were non-UK/Irish nationals, according to the English Housing Survey.
There are an estimated 470,000 non-UK and non-Irish citizens living in social housing.
Reform UK estimates that 540,000 social homes are currently occupied by foreign nationals.
The Conservatives have said they would revoke the right of foreign nationals to social housing, and claim it would free up around 230,000 homes.
The Tory plan would allow Irish citizens and some EU nationals to remain in social housing.
Shadow housing secretary Sir James Cleverly accused Reform of trying to “catch up” with the Tories.
“This is yet another unfunded announcement from Reform and shows they have not done the hard work needed and is so often the case, their maths simply doesn’t stack up.
“The Conservatives have already set out comprehensive plans to ensure British nationals are at the front of the queue for social housing. Now Reform are trying to catch up.”
Labour called Reform’s proposal “unserious and unworkable”.
A party spokesperson said: “Access to social housing is already tightly controlled. Illegal migrants, asylum seekers and migrants on student or work visas are not eligible for social housing.
“This policy would go after long-term UK residents that have contributed to our country but are not British citizens, including NHS staff.
“It would leave more families at risk of homelessness and drive up use of temporary accommodation at the taxpayers’ expense. It would also mean renegotiations with the EU, resulting in years of wrangling.”
The Liberal Democrats called the move a “cruel gimmick”.
Lib Dem housing and planning spokesperson Gideon Amos said: “Threatening UK residents and workers, including for example many of our nurses and health care professionals, with eviction because they were born outside the UK shows the Reform Party are intent on dividing every local community for their own ends.
“This idea is a cruel gimmick aimed at victimising the poorest for Britain’s failure to build the social homes we need – a failure for which Conservative politicians, so many of whom are now found in the Reform Party, bear full responsibility.