Anti-migrant campaigners are being investigated after filming themselves getting into a house in multiple occupation (HMO) and quizzing asylum seekers staying there.
The footage, titled HMO Hunting in Leicestershire, was shared online by ‘English nationalist citizen journalist’ group Truthhurts101UK which has almost 57,000 followers on X.
The video has been deleted from YouTube, which said the film had ‘violated’ its terms of service.
But it remains on X and has been viewed via there 469,000 times, attracting 2,100 ‘likes’ and almost 600 reposts.
The account holder accompanied the film by writing: ‘NEW 6 MAN HMO UNCOVERED IN FLECKNEY. Residents say they weren’t asked or consulted. Locals were told 5 men would be housed here, but I found 6.’
The footage shows three men making their way into the property in the Leicestershire village of Fleckney and confronting people staying there.
The narrator asks whether the property is run by contractors Serco, with one resident appearing to confirm this, while letting the video team inspect different rooms.
At one point the cameraman shows a lanyard, while insisting they were making ‘checks’, though it was not clear what was written on it.
The footage, titled HMO Hunting in Leicestershire, was shared online by ‘English nationalist citizen journalist’ group Truthhurts101UK
The poster describes himself online as an ‘English nationalist citizen journalist’, covering ‘immigration, demographic change, policing and stories others overlook’.
The property in Leicestershire was accessed through an unlocked back door.
When meeting three men, believed to be asylum seekers, in the kitchen, the Truthhurts101UK team say they are contractors assessing the property for repairs.
They ask one of the men there whether the property is run by Serco, which he confirms, and also ask for ‘paperwork’ which he says he does not have.
A Serco spokesman said: ‘We are aware of this post. We take issues of this nature extremely seriously and are investigating.’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The safety and security of those housed in asylum accommodation, staff who work there and local communities are of the upmost importance to the government.
The clip was shared as activists got into a property in the Leicestershire village Fenckley
‘We engage extensively with contractors, local authorities and the police and expect any instances of criminality to be taken seriously.’
A YouTube spokesman said: ‘Harassment and cyberbullying are not allowed on YouTube and as part of this, we do not allow content that reveals someone’s personally identifiable information.
‘Upon review, we have removed the flagged video for violating our policies.’
Louise Calvey, executive director of campaign group Asylum Matters, described the video as ‘a premeditated invasion into someone’s home for clicks and attention’.
She added: ‘The people that court this are the very worst of us. They’re the ones that pose a threat – barging into people’s homes, filming in people’s private spaces. The audacity and sense of entitlement is breathtaking.
‘Government must urgently take steps to improve protections, remove the details of shared accommodation sites of all descriptions from the public domain, support people accommodated as victims of crimes, and escalate quicker police responses.’
The Guardian quoted Truthhurts101UK as responding to its report about the footage by saying asylum seekers were ‘ticking timebombs’, while labelling the newspaper ‘irrelevant’ and a ‘rag’.
The group’s X account has since shared that article, branding it a ‘hit piece’.
According to a Freedom of Information request, there were 41,162 applications to convert homes into HMOs in 2018.
In 2024 that figure rose to 57,725 and by 2025 there were an estimated 472,823 HMOs in the UK.
One of the reasons behind the surge in HMOs relates to the Government’s attempts to move asylum seekers from hotels into communities to reduce costs.
