With the United Kingdom in the grip of a housing crisis, new figures suggest that high levels of migration are driving up demand, while the Labour government is set to fall well short of its own housing target.
Since Labour came to power in 2024, net migration is estimated to have added 312,606 people to the population.
The figure is the highest on record and roughly twice the level of eight years ago, a surge attributed to expectations that Labour will tighten settlement rights and make permanent status in the UK harder to secure.
Analysis shows this influx created a new demand for 130,166 homes, equal to 47% of the properties the government has built, according to The Daily Express.
The demand growth comes despite the fact that migration has nearly halved year-over-year – net migration was 331,000 in the year to December 2024, before falling to 171,000 the following year.
Conservative MPs have blamed the Labour government for the crisis, with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp saying, "this is what uncontrolled immigration looks like”.
Philp called for policies that would “get the market moving”, such as scrapping Stamp Duty on primary residences, which the Conservatives say will reduce transaction costs that are trapping owners in homes they would otherwise sell.
Letting Migration Skyrocket
A Labour spokesman hit back, telling The Express that the Conservatives “completely lost control” of the UK’s borders and “let migration skyrocket”. He added that the party has already made progress in streamlining planning regulations.
However, the pressures posed by high levels of net migration have been compounded by the fact that Labour is set to fall well short of its target of 1.5 million new homes by nearly half a million.
Conservative MP Katie Lam warned that a whole generation is being “locked out of home ownership” by a combination of low supply and immigration-driven population growth.
Home ownership in the UK has halved since the late 1990s, studies show, while the number of people in rented accommodation has risen. Meanwhile, a drop in social housing stock by an estimated 240,000 between 2012 and 2020 has left local councils scrambling to find homes for lower income residents and those experiencing homelessness.
Social housing shortages have been compounded by the high levels of immigration into the UK, with local councils reporting they are being squeezed out by Westminster as it seeks properties to house asylum seekers.
District councils’ spending on temporary accommodation has increased by more than 200% over three years and yet waiting lists have risen to 303,000 households, according to Councillor Hannah Dalton of the District Councils' Network.
Temporary accommodation is arranged by local authorities but does not provide a permanent home. It can include hotels, hostels or caravans and is used by councils to house people experiencing homelessness.
Frustration as Migration Pressures Social Housing
However, local councils are in direct competition with Westminster for such accommodation, as the government struggles to meet its legal requirement to provide housing for asylum seekers by placing them in hotels and similar accommodation.
Labour’s Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC the government acknowledged the public's "huge frustration" at the pressure the asylum system puts on housing supply.
The UK is not alone in facing housing pressures compounded by high migration. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin told the Irish parliament last month that migration has “hugely” impacted homelessness, noting that fewer than 50% of those experiencing homelessness are now Irish citizens.
The High Court in Ireland ruled earlier this year that the government must pay compensation to two asylum seekers who became homeless after entering the state.
The judges found that the government had breached the refugees’ rights under the Reception Conditions Directive and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The ruling came after the court sought advice from the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In a written opinion, the ECJ’s Advocate General Laila Medina rejected the Irish government’s claim that an influx of international protection applicants affected its obligation to cover asylum seekers’ basic needs.
The decision means the government must pay more than €15,000 to the two claimants, who were chosen as test cases from a pool of about 50 similar claims.