Immigration Has Pushed Up House Prices, Says UK Minister

By Little India Desk | April 10, 2018

Immigration has brought about an increase of around 20 per cent in prices of houses over a period of 25 years, Dominic Raab, the Housing Minister of the United Kingdom, said.

“Based on the Office for National Statistics data, the advice to me from the department is that in the last 25 years we have seen immigration put house prices up by something like 20 per cent,” Raab said, the Sunday Times reported. He added that the government should not overlook the harmful effects of immigration on the country.

“The Migration Advisory Committee is right to look at the positive impact immigration has had on the country. At the same time, you can’t just airbrush the costs and the impact it has on housing,” Raab said, according to the report.

Raab is heading a drive to build more affordable homes in the United Kingdom. He wants the number of new houses to go up from 217,000 in 2017 to 300,000 by 2025, according to the Sun. Raab added that there is an opportunity to revive the dream of owning a home in the United Kingdom and make this dream come true for youngsters as well as those in the low and middle-income sections of the society.

A research conducted by property website Zoopla in March showed that among the cheapest places to buy houses in the United Kingdom for first-time buyers is Hull, with an average property price of £104,376, followed by Middlesbrough with £107,041 and Liverpool with £122,137. The research found that London is one of the most expensive places to live, where buyers have to shell out £518,178 for a place.

Pointing out that the issue of housing cannot be left out of the immigration debate, Raab said, “If we delivered on the government’s target of reducing immigration to the tens of thousands every year, that would have a material impact on the number of homes we need to build every year.”

He talked about the new reforms that will be introduced in the procedure of buying homes on April 8, and tweeted: “New reforms to the purchasing process, so the dream of buying your own home doesn’t become a nightmare.”

New reforms to the purchasing process, so the dream of buying your own home doesn’t become a nightmare. #mhclg https://t.co/AmgULLEshB

— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) April 9, 2018

UK Housing Secretary Sajid Javid also gave more details about the new reforms in a statement on April 8. Javid said that the new measures will help professionalize the estate agent market, driving up standards and bringing an end to “rogue” managing agents.

“Estate agents will now be required to hold a professional qualification and to be transparent about the fees they receive for referring clients to solicitors, surveyors and mortgage brokers,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the UK Home Office is encouraging asylum seekers in the United Kingdom to return home, even before their cases are taken up by the department officials. The Home Office is voluntarily giving contact numbers and information to asylum seekers about the ways they can head back home before their cases are considered.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Feb. 22 revealed that about 5,500 Indian citizens sought asylum in the United Kingdom and applied for it in the last five years. A majority of the applications were made after the Indians arrived in the United Kingdom, pointing to the fact that they may have traveled with valid visas and applied for an asylum later.