Swindon council could cut nearly £250,000 from asylum seeker housing budget if motion passes
Conservative councillors propose limiting use of council housing for asylum seekers amid concerns over rising rents and local housing needs.
Almost £250,000 could be cut from Swindon Borough Council's spending on housing asylum seekers if the council agrees to the motion.
Two Conservative members, Councillors Daniel Adams and Gayle Cook have submitted a motion which would mandate the authority to consider how it would avoid its housing stock being used to house those seeking asylum in the UK and would remove £238,000 budgeted for housing asylum seekers.
The motion says the government: “has intensified efforts to secure private rental properties for asylum seekers on lucrative tenancy deals guaranteeing 5 years of rent payments, often in advance and sometimes at double market rates. The deals also offer free property management, free utilities and council tax bills and full repair and maintenance of the property.
“Charities have warned that the scheme inflates rents, side-lining young workers, families and the homeless.”
The motion adds: “An opportunity like this may tempt the majority of landlords to evict their current tenants.
“By the prioritisation of illegal migrants over hard-working, tax-paying British people, including veterans and the homeless, social cohesion is put at huge risk.”
It notes that by June 2025, Swindon had housed 539 asylum seekers and 376 Swindon residents in temporary accommodation, and the council’s 2025-26 budget includes a government grant of £428,000 and additional Council spend of £238,000 for housing refugees and asylum seekers.
The motion mandates the council to “reaffirm its commitment to Local Housing Need and a proof of local connection to the Swindon Borough Council area.
And it requests the cabinet to “consider within six months a report on how Swindon can avoid its housing stock from being used to house asylum seekers and considers within three months ways to remove the budget of £238,000.”
In allocating council housing, the council prioritises ‘local connections’, including having lived in Swindon for three years before an application, being employed for the previous 22 months in Swindon, or being registered for tax in Swindon is self-employed.
Swindon is one of the towns and cities where the government sends those who enter the country and claim asylum or refuge. In June 2024, there were 67 refugees accommodated in hotels in the town, down from 382 the previous June.
The odds of the Conservative motion being passed are long.
The Labour administration started working towards accreditation as a Borough of Sanctuary earlier this year, and it can call on the support of a significant majority of councillors in the chamber.
The full council will meet at 7pm on Thursday, July 24 at the Civic Offices in Euclid Street.