WEST WORCESTERSHIRE MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has called on the Home Secretary to remove Malvern Hills and Wychavon from a list of potential destinations as the Government moves asylum seekers from hotels to private rented accommodation.
The MP’s plea relates to a list circulating online from government contractor Serco of towns and cities where landlords could receive taxpayer money to house asylum seekers.
While the list included Malvern Hills, Worcester, Wychavon, Wyre Forest and Bromsgrove and Redditch among dozens of other localities across England, the Home Office said the list was not created by them nor does it represent any existing or future asylum accommodation.
The MP has written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, warning of the serious impact the policy may have on the local housing rental market and the difficulty local people already have finding rental accommodation.
Under the deal, which according to reports was agreed six years prior, private landlords will be offered a five-year fixed term deal to allocate space to move asylum seekers to new homes.
Dame Harriett said: “Over the weekend I have had lots of messages from people objecting to this policy who fear this will damage the housing market, and people looking for social housing who are already on a long waiting list.
“Families across West Worcestershire took amazing steps to offer homes to people fleeing the war in Ukraine, and I am aware of families who have safely moved to West Worcestershire through legal immigration schemes from Afghanistan and Hong Kong.
“Our social housing provision is already operating beyond capacity and landlords have shared their concerns about what this could do to local rental rates.
“I backed the Rwanda scheme as it made sense to have a deterrent to those who used criminal gangs to get into our country illegally and dangerously.
“Now we are giving potential future asylum seekers a wide-open door to a comfortable life in rural England.
“That will not deter the gangs, Labour have failed to smash the gangs, and it won’t halt the arrival of small boats, which have already surged this year.”
The list, Serco confirmed, reflects local authority areas covered by its Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contract, which they have had with the Home Office for six years.
A Serco spokesperson said: “This does not indicate the Government will be opening new accommodation in these areas.”
