As Migrants Fill His Properties, Fergus Wilson Puts Up Rents By 33%

Fergus Wilson, Britain’s most controversial buy-to-let landlord, is increasing rents across his 900 houses in Kent by up to 33% and filling his properties with eastern European migrants – while at the same time saying that Britain is heading for a “housing disaster”. Wilson told Guardian Money that when he let a three-bed mid-terrace home in Maidstone, Kent, last weekend, he managed to hike the rent from £900 a month to £1,200. Most of the demand, he says, is from migrants who are willing to pay higher rents than other local residents. He will now be seeking similar rent increases across his property empire. Read more on the Guardian website.

Migrants Given One in Ten Council Homes

Around one in ten local authority homes were let last year to foreign tenants, figures show. The proportion has soared since David Cameron entered Downing Street. Last year, 9 per cent of social housing properties which were let out were occupied by foreign tenants – up from 6 per cent in the final year of the last Labour government.  The statistics, released by the CLG, show that this proportion of lettings is the highest in England since at least 2006/7.  The figures also show that the number of homes let out to Eastern Europeans had doubled since the Coalition was formed in 2010 to 4 per cent. Read more on the Daily Mail website.

Pilots to Allow Councils to Deport Ex-Offenders

Council housing departments will help to deport repeat offenders from Eastern Europe in a bid to crack down on homelessness as part of two government-backed projects.  Exeter and Leeds councils start pilots this month that will see housing staff work with local prisons and the UK Border Agency to aggregate sentences of European foreign nationals being released from jail to enable them to be sent home.  Immigration authorities can deport European citizens if they have received a prison sentence of more than two years. But under the pilots, the councils will deport individuals if they have a number of short sentences amounting to two years. The individuals will be offered drug and alcohol treatment and free travel home.  Central and Eastern Europeans are the fastest-growing group of rough sleepers in England. If the pilots are successful they could be rolled out across the UK. Read more on Inside Housing.