Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Housing on 5 February 2024 (HC8158), what proportion of the budget for social and affordable housing is spent on (1) Ukrainian and Afghan refugee and guests schemes, (2) asylum seekers, (3) migrant workers on the shortage occupation list, (4) dependents of such migrant workers, (5) workers on the health and social care visa scheme and (6) non-UK citizens.

There is not a single budget for social and affordable housing. Most of the income for social housing providers come from rent paid by tenants, some of whom have help from the welfare system to pay it. New social and affordable homes are typically funded by a mix of subsidy from government grant programmes, or through Section 106 agreements in planning permissions, combined with borrowing by landlords against future rental income.

Completed new social homes are allocated to new tenants by local authorities, unless agreed otherwise. Local authorities are responsible for their own allocation scheme for social housing within the framework of legislation.

Eligibility for social housing is tightly controlled. If a person’s visa means that they cannot access state benefits or local authority housing assistance, they are not eligible for an allocation of social housing. Asylum seekers and migrants in the UK on work or student visas are not eligible for social housing.

Data is available for all social housing lettings in England. This data does not include details of official refugee or immigration status, or route into the country. However, it does include details of nationality, based on the self-reported nationality of the lead tenant. The data shows that between April 2024 and March 2025:

• There were 29,700 new social lettings in England to households led by non-UK nationals (11.3% of all new social lettings). Of these;
• There were 1,100 new social lettings in England to households led by Ukrainian nationals (0.5% of all new social lettings).
• There were 1,300 new social lettings in England to households led by Afghan nationals (0.6% of all new social lettings).

These figures are publicly available (attached) in Social housing lettings in England, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK