A woman who fled the war in Ukraine to the UK has described a Conservative proposal to ban foreign nationals from social housing as “devastating”.
The party announced that foreign nationals with settled status, refugee status or certain forms of humanitarian protection would not be eligible for social housing, and existing tenants would be stripped of their homes if it wins the next election.
It is claimed that the proposal would free up more than 228,144 homes for British families who are on long housing waiting lists across the country.
Yuliana Zaichenko, 30, lives in social housing in Newham, east London, after arriving from Ukraine in 2022 on the Ukraine Family Scheme, which gave her the right to live and work in the UK for up to three years.
As someone who has benefited from social housing, she described the plan as “devastating”, saying the scheme was using foreign nationals as scapegoats for the housing shortage.
Charities have criticised the plans as ineffective and warned they placed people at risk of homelessness.
‘I’m very grateful for my home’
Yuliana joined her uncle in London in 2022 with the launch of the Ukraine Family Scheme which allowed Ukrainian citizens to join immediate or extended family members who were British citizens or held settled status in the UK. She was moved into social housing in a flat in 2023.
“I’m very grateful for that. I am struggling with my mental health and having a roof over my head, that helps,” she told The i Paper.
She received an extension, under the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme, for 18 months which expires in October, but she has applied for a two-year visa extension.
Despite being protected, she criticised the plans to strip housing from foreign nationals. “If they want to have my place, I would give it away. But I don’t have anywhere to live as well,” said Yuliana.
“The problem with housing will be solved if the properties that are in private ownership that are just standing there deteriorating are turned into social housing.”
She added: “I myself wouldn’t want to be taking someone’s place but at the same time I’m a refugee of war.”
She believes the proposal is a way to divide people in society by providing a “common enemy”, adding: “I think that people who are in politics are trying to win over the electorate by saying, ‘Well you’re British, it means you have special status and those foreign nationals they’re taking away what’s rightfully yours’.”
The Conservative proposal
Under the proposal, anyone living in social housing who is neither a British, Irish nor EU citizen would have to leave their home within six months, including those with children. Those with EU settled status would be exempt.
For future tenancies, only British citizens and those with EU settled status would be eligible. Any newly arriving EU citizens would no longer qualify.
Foreign nationals who have settled status, indefinite leave to remain, or refugee status, can currently qualify for social housing. This includes those who are in the UK under certain resettlement schemes due to conflict.
Asylum seekers are generally not eligible for social housing.
Helen Whately, shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “Labour has lost control of immigration and lost control of the welfare bill, and it is British families picking up the bill and sitting on waiting lists.”
Social housing is rented housing provided at a relatively low cost by local councils or non-profit housing associations.
Yuliana, nor any others on the Ukraine Family Scheme, would be impacted by the Conservatives’ proposal.
Risk of homelessness
Charities have warned that the plan could push people currently living in social housing into homelessness.
Sarah Elliott, chief executive of Shelter, said the plans would “brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades”.
Labour said the proposal would “primarily affect refugees and long-term UK residents who have contributed to this country but are not British citizens, including NHS staff”.
I warned the policy would drive up the use of expensive temporary accommodation to house those who were evicted.
Charities also say it would not free up a significant enough number of homes to have an impact on the waiting list for social housing.
Government statistics state that around 88.5 per cent of main householders in social housing in England in 2024-25 were UK or Irish nationals, meaning the change could only have an impact on 11.5 per cent of social households.
The Conservatives claim the proposal would free up 228,144 homes for British families. There were 1.34 million households on waiting lists across England in March last year – the highest figure in 12 years.
Jasmine Basran, head of policy at homelessness charity Crisis, emphasised the need to build more social housing and said the plans will do “absolutely nothing” to meet the housing need and only “pin the blame on a group of people who are not responsible for the housing crisis”.
If you need urgent mental health support in the UK, call the NHS mental health crisis line on 111, or call the Samaritans on 116 123.
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