Social housing allocation and immigrant communities

Widespread media reports suggest that migrants receive priority in the allocation of social housing, and in doing so displace non-migrants. The Equality and Human Rights Commission decided to commission research to look at the facts behind these stories and to examine the allocation of social housing in England.

The research asked three questions:

• Who is entitled to social housing?
• Who receives social housing?
• Do some groups have unfair access to social housing?

This study is set in the context of increased international immigration to the UK and a reduction in social housing stock. Although international migration has always been a feature of national life, this aspect of population change has increased substantially since the early 1990s.