A list of towns and cities where landlords could receive taxpayer money to house asylum seekers has been taken down after a social media backlash
The locations were shared by outsourcing company Serco on its website, prompting intense speculation that only intensified after the post was deleted.
It has now been confirmed that the list shows local authorities where Serco has been contracted to provide dispersal asylum accommodation under a deal agreed six years ago.
However, the Home Office denied any role in its creation and said it does not mean all the areas are currently housing asylum seekers or will do in the future.
The list emerged just hours after Serco was revealed as one of three companies offering landlords five-year guaranteed full rent deals at taxpayers’ expense.
The firm is currently ‘looking for’ landlords, investors and agents to provide accommodation for asylum seekers while their claim is being processed.
The Serco list was split into three areas, the North West, the Midlands and the East of England, although its website said that ‘all areas are currently closed for Procurement in the North West’.
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer continues to grapple with a rise in Channel migrant crossings, with 9,600 arriving in the UK so far this year.
More migrants were brought ashore in Dover on Friday after being rescued from the Channel
Sir Keir Starmer continues to grapple with a rise in Channel migrant crossings, with 9,600 arriving in the UK so far this year
Critics are furious at the landlord recruitment drive at a time when 1.3million people remain on the social housing waiting list and private rented accommodation is in high demand.
One council leader told LBC: ‘It’s Serco who are encouraging landlords to exploit taxpayers, then it’s blamed on councils because of the impact it has on local rents, services and social cohesion.
‘I don’t think it’s good for the fabric of society or the individuals involved.’
Serco has admitted it is currently working to ‘extend its footprint’ across the UK.
Meanwhile, the Home Office insisted it was working to reduce the number of asylum seekers who need to be accommodated by speeding up decision making and removing failed applicants.
Serco’s offer to landlords includes promises of rent paid ‘on time every month with no arrears’, free property management and full repair and maintenance, according to the Telegraph.
This is described in promotional materials as ‘an attractive and competitive proposition within the industry’.
It comes as hundreds of people took to the streets of Dover yesterday to protest against the failure to stop small boat migrants.
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Dover yesterday in clashing protests over immigration
The border town has become a focus for concerns about migrants coming to Britain, being the first destination of many asylum seekers arriving across the Channel.
One demonstration staged in Dover was promoted on Facebook with the title: ‘Stop the boats now! 10,000+ bikers and friends illegal migrant protest ride to Dover.’
Counter-protests were also organised by campaign groups including Stand Up To Racism.
The number of Channel migrants who have crossed so far this year is a third up from the previous all-time high.
What are the local authorities on the Serco list?
East of England –
- Babergh/Mid Suffolk
- Breckland
- Broadlands/South Norfolk
- Cambridge
- East Cambridgeshire
- East Suffolk
- Fenland
- Great Yarmouth
- Ipswich
- Kings Lynn & West Norfolk
- Mid Suffolk
- North Norfolk
- Norwich
- Peterborough
- South Cambridgeshire (Cambourne, Sawston)
- South Norfolk
- West Suffolk (Bury, Newmarket, Brandon, Haverhill, Mildenhall)
Midlands –
- Amber Valley
- Ashfield
- Bassetlaw
- Birmingham
- Blaby
- Bolsover
- Boston
- Bromsgrove and Redditch
- Broxtowe
- Cannock Chase
- Charnwood
- Chesterfield
- Derby
- Derbyshire Dales
- Dudley
- East Lindsey
- East Staffordshire (Burton-upon-Trent and Uttoxeter)
- Erewash (Derbyshire)
- Gedling
- Harborough
- Herefordshire County
- High Peak
- Hinkley & Bosworth
- Huntingdonshire
- Leicester
- Lincoln
- Lichfield
- Malvern Hills
- Mansfield
- Melton
- Newark and Sherwood
- Newcastle-under-Lyme
- North East Derbyshire
- North Kesteven (Lincolnshire)
- North Northamptonshire (Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough)
- North Warwickshire
- North West Leicestershire (Coalville)
- Nottingham
- Nuneaton and Bedworth
- Oadby & Wigston
- Rugby
- Rushcliffe
- Rutland
- Sandwell
- Shropshire
- Solihull
- South Derbyshire (Swadlincote)
- South Holland
- South Kesteven (Lincolnshire)
- South Staffordshire
- Stafford
- Staffordshire Moorlands
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Stratford-on-Avon
- Tamworth
- Telford and Wrekin
- Walsall
- Warwick ( Leamington Spa, Kenilworth)
- West Lindsey
- West Northamptonshire (Northampton & Daventry)
- Wolverhampton
- Worcester
- Wychavon
- Wyre Forest
North West –
- Allerdale
- Barrow-in-Furness
- Blackburn & Darwen
- Blackpool
- Bolton
- Burnley
- Bury
- Carlisle
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Chorley
- Copeland
- Eden (Penrith)
- Flyde
- Halton
- Hyndburn
- Knowsley
- Lancaster
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Oldham
- Pendle
- Preston
- Ribble Valley
- Rochdale
- Rossendale
- Salford
- Sefton
- South Lakeland
- South Ribble
- Stockport
- St Helens
- Tameside
- Trafford
- Warrington
- West Lancashire
- Wigan
- Wirral
- Wyre
A Serco spokesman said: ‘The list of councils on our website reflects local authority areas covered by our Asylum Accommodation and Support Services contract, which we have had for six years with the Home Office.
‘This does not indicate the Government will be opening new accommodation in these areas.’
The Home Office said: ‘The list of local authorities Serco shared on its website for landlords is not a Home Office list, nor is it a list of any existing or future asylum accommodation.
‘Serco is one of several companies contracted by the previous government 6 years ago to provide dispersal asylum accommodation in different regions and this list simply appears to reflect the geographical list of local authorities covered by the Serco contracts at that time.
‘We are restoring order to the asylum system and cutting costs to taxpayers by reducing the number of people we are required to accommodate through a rapid increase in asylum decision-making and the removal of more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK.’
