Reform UK has announced its latest social housing policy, pledging to prioritise British-born workers under 35, military veterans, and married couples with children when allocating council homes. The party also reiterated its commitment to build 50,000 affordable social homes a year, claiming the plan would require no new taxes or borrowing.

Delivering the announcement at a press conference in London on Monday, Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson and deputy leader Richard Tice outlined a series of measures aimed at what they described as "getting Britain building" and ensuring "young British workers" get priority for social housing.

Mr Tice said: "There are now 1.3 million people waiting for social housing in Britain. The vast majority of them do not have jobs. In terms of the social houses we have, less than half of households are in work and over half a million social homes are currently occupied by foreign nationals. Meanwhile, young British men and women, who are working hard, can't afford to move out of their family home, and when they do often find themselves sharing a house with strangers, with no realistic prospect of forming a family or getting on. It is time for us to prioritise young British workers, and that is what our policy is about."

The policy builds on Reform UK's previous pledge to evict foreign nationals from social housing, a plan first announced by Nigel Farage. Under that earlier proposal, foreign nationals living in social homes would be given three months to find private accommodation or face deportation. The new measures would give priority access to British-born people in employment, as well as married couples under 35 with children. The party has said some foreign-born Britons would be exempt, such as those born while their British parents were temporarily overseas, but the rules would require legislation.

Mr Anderson spoke about standards for social housing tenants, recalling post-war rules under a Labour government when council tenants had to be married, maintain their properties, and keep gardens "done and decorated". He said: "What is wrong with expecting people who live in subsidised housing, paid for and subsidised by the hard-working British taxpayer ... to keep their house to a reasonable standard?"

He also said tenants would be required to mow and weed their gardens, take out the bins, and keep homes decorated, warning that failure could lead to them being "kicked out". He added: "Hardworking British taxpayers go to work and see the house next door with four feet of weeds, a dustbin not been done for three weeks and a waft of weed coming out of it."

Mr Tice, who is divorced and remarrying later this year, said the policy was deliberately designed to promote marriage. He noted that civil partnerships would qualify under the married-couples priority.

Reactions

The announcement has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties and housing charities.

Shelter's chief executive, Sarah Elliott, said: "Reform's plans to change how social housing is allocated are a blatant distraction from the real cause of the housing emergency, which is decades of political failure to build enough genuinely affordable social homes – not because any one group has had an unfair advantage. Changing the order of the queue rather than building the homes we so desperately need would push more people into homelessness, including those fleeing domestic abuse." Shelter argues that 90,000 social rent homes are needed each year over the next decade.

A Labour spokesperson called the plans "unserious and unworkable" and accused Reform of pushing "gimmicks and division". They said: "Illegal migrants, asylum seekers and migrants on student or work visas are not eligible for social housing. This policy would go after long-term UK residents that have contributed to our country – including NHS staff. It would put more families at risk of homelessness, drive up the use of temporary accommodation and require years of renegotiating EU rules. And it would blow a £10 billion black hole in the public finances."

Labour also highlighted its own £39bn affordable housing scheme, which allocates 60% of funding to social homes, compared with a current government average of about 18,000 social homes a year.

The Conservative Party has its own proposals to revoke foreign nationals' right to social housing, which it claims would free up around 230,000 homes – a figure contested by Reform, who argue their estimate of 540,000 homes is more accurate. Sir James Cleverly, the Conservative leadership candidate, said Reform's announcement was "unfunded" and that their maths "does not stack up", accusing them of trying to "catch up" with Conservative plans. He also reiterated Conservative pledges to scrap stamp duty on primary homes.

The Liberal Democrats' housing spokesperson, Gideon Amos, called the move a "cruel gimmick" that would "threaten the security of UK residents and workers, including nurses, and tear communities apart".

Funding concerns

Reform UK said the 50,000-a-year housebuilding target would be "fiscally neutral", relying partly on allowing housing associations to increase the accounting value of their homes so they can borrow more to build. However, industry insiders have raised concerns. Andy Hulme, chief executive of housing association Hyde, said the proposals could lead many providers to violate banking agreements and "tip some into default".

Reform has also cited statistics from the English Housing Survey showing that UK or Irish nationals made up 88.5% of main social housing householders in 2024/25, with 11.5% being non-UK or Irish nationals. The party estimates that 540,000 social homes are currently occupied by foreign nationals, though the accuracy of this figure has been questioned by critics.