Half Of New Homes Needed To Cope With Migrant Influx

Nearly half of all new homes built in England in the next five years are needed to cope with the influx of migrants, official figures have suggested. The Government has forecast that high levels of net immigration will lead to the creation of 95,000 new households a year. But ministers have only set a target of building 1 million new homes in England by 2020, equivalent to 200,000 a year. This suggests that almost half will be needed to help accommodate the expected arrival of 217,000 migrants annually. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Pickles: EU 'Influx' May Add To Housing Problems

The communities secretary has conceded an influx of Romanians and Bulgarians is going to increase pressure on social housing when rules change at the start of next year.  Speaking on the BBC’s Daily Politics show, Eric Pickles told host Andrew Neil the change is going to ‘cause problems’ for the housing sector.  But he refused to give an estimate of the numbers of people who might move to Britain after getting the right to live and work in the UK in December.  From January 2014 restrictions will be lifted on Romanians and Bulgarians entering and working in the UK. Read more on the BBC website.