Report by MigrationWatch UK says official data reveals the majority of new households created since 1997 have a foreign-born figurehead
Two thirds of the new homes created in Britain since 1997 have a foreign–born head of the household, according to a new survey.
Figures based on a national survey showed that out of 2.7 million households created in the country over the period, nearly 1.8 million had a senior figure who was born outside the UK.
MigrationWatch UK, which campaigns for stricter immigration control, said its report showed how pressure in the housing market was largely attributable to immigration.
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Lord Green of Deddington, the group’s chairman, said: “Communities all over the country are being asked to accept new housing developments without being told that, across the country, most of the additional households are nowadays due to immigration.
“It is surely obvious that, a major reduction in immigration is essential to reduce the acute pressure on housing which we are now facing.
“We call for the government to publish an official estimate of the impact of immigration on housing demand – past, present and future.
“This has to be a key part of any informed debate about both immigration and housing.”
The report was based on data from the Labour Force Survey, compiled by the Office for National Statistics, which showed that in 1997 there were just under 24 million households with birthplace data available.
Of those, 1.98 million were headed by a foreign-born person.
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In data from 2014 the number of households had risen to 26.5 million and the number foreign-born to 3.73 million.
“The … data presented here give unequivocal, direct information on the proportion of households headed by immigrants,” the report said.
“There is a close connection between immigration and new household formation, and therefore demand for housing.
“In all the fierce controversies about how many dwellings to build, and where to build them, this crucial connection is rarely made.”
The rise in households over the period is not the same as the number of homes constructed, the report said, because some new homes are built to replace those demolished.
On average 180,000 new dwellings have been built each year since 1996.
Source: The Telegraph
