A private landlord who has offered over a third of his portfolio to asylum seekers has said he will make more money than from private renters.
The i Paper reported earlier this month that landlords across the UK were choosing to house asylum seekers instead of private renters because it can be more lucrative and easier to manage because of taxpayer-funded deals providing a steady, long-term income.
*George started building his property portfolio three years ago after working in the restaurant trade.
The Manchester-based landlord first offered his properties to asylum seekers a year ago and now rents out eight units across the Wirral in Merseyside as well as Hawick in Scotland.
He told The i Paper that housing provider Mears Group handles the management of the properties after registering the units with the relevant local authority. The provider then assesses what changes need to be made to make them suitable for asylum seekers.
It is the lack of management and additional fees, the higher income over the long-term and providing a home for people escaping hardship that makes renting to asylum seekers more favourable than to private tenants for a landlord like George.
Net income increased despite receiving less rent
He said that on average he makes about £38 less a month for each of his Hawick flats he supplies to Mears, but that this loss of income is recuperated through the provider handling maintenance costs.
“I’m actually getting less as a gross figure but because there is no management, maintenance, tenant finders and so on, over the years my net figure will be higher than it would be with a private renter,” he said.
“It has to be furnished because obviously these people don’t have furniture, they’re just in the process of coming into the country. A lot of these people have already been processed, that’s why they get housed.”
Wendy Whittaker-Large, who runs the HMO Action Group and advises people with HMO portfolios, said earlier this month she knew “dozens” of landlords who had agreed five-year leases with Serco and other asylum providers this year.
She said landlords liked the guarantee of rent every month with no “void” periods, as well as having all repair costs and bills paid for by the contractor.
Local authorities told to take asylum seekers
Under the 2019 Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contract, three contractors are responsible for finding private rental accommodation for asylum claimants in the UK: Serco, Mears Group and Clearsprings Ready Homes.
Recent months have seen these contractors boosting efforts to encourage landlords to house asylum seekers – Serco put out a “calling all landlords” message on its website in April.
George said he has 13 units currently being privately rented that he would like to offer to asylum seekers, but Mears has stopped accepting properties in areas he has invested in.
The landlord claimed that this was due to local authorities reaching their social housing quotas in larger cities where a greater variety of housing stock is available.
The Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 introduced asylum dispersal to the UK, which would see asylum seekers being housed in hotels before being moved into dispersal accommodation, typically rented out by private landlords, in areas of the country which they had no say in being sent to.
This was followed by a model in 2010 which saw local authorities forced to take on asylum seekers, with a limit of no more than one per 200 residents.
George said: “Every council has been designated to put up a certain number of asylum seekers. That’s why some areas like Liverpool and some of the main cities no longer have any demand because they have filled their quota of how many people they need to potentially put into housing.
“Now, in the smaller areas where stock is less like Hawick, that’s where they are still always looking for properties and trying to add more and more stock.”
Landlords been offering homes to asylum seekers ‘for years’
Home Office immigration figures analysed by the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory found that the number of asylum seekers in dispersal accommodation in April 2014 was 27,262, representing 87 per cent of all asylum seekers being supported in the UK.
This figure has since increased to 66,683 asylum seekers in April this year, accounting for 62 per cent of such individuals, while 30 per cent were being housed in hotels where protests sparked over the summer.
Reliance on such facilities hit an all-time high in recent years at the start of October 2023, when 56,042 asylum seekers, or 45 per cent of all those supported in the UK, were in hotels.
Figures in August showed there were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels at the end of June – up eight per cent from a year ago.
As of March this year, a total of 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK – six per cent higher than the previous peak of 103,081 in 2002.
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Rachel Reeves announced earlier this month that she was looking to cut asylum spending in an effort to balance next month’s Budget.
Labour has pledged to end the use of hotel accommodation by the end of this Parliament in 2029.
George said that data protection laws prevent him from knowing the identity of those being housed in his properties, but that he wanted to provide an opportunity to those in need who have found themselves in similar situations to his father.
He said: “I’m not doing it for financial reasons, I’m doing it for social reasons. My dad was an immigrant coming into this country and I’m a working class man who has done very well for himself.
“I’ve built up my portfolio by me and my wife working, building one property at a time over the last 20 years. That’s why I’ve got no problem giving back. It’s not necessarily about how much money we make from it, it’s about giving someone a roof over their head.”
A government spokesperson previously told The i Paper it was looking at “a range of cheaper, more appropriate sites” for asylum housing – “including disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so we can reduce the impact on communities”.
Commenting on the situation, a Serco spokesperson previously said landlords were free to choose “whether they want to put their property forward”. A Mears Group spokesperson said all properties “must meet Home Office contractual standards” while Clearsprings Ready Homes declined to comment.
*George asked to use a pseudonym to remain anonymous
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