The Tory-led North Northamptonshire Council in the UK is facing massive backlash for allegedly spending large sums of money to ‘forcibly’ buy properties to house “illegal immigrants”. According to the allegations, the Regional Council is going to lengths to kick out elderly British citizens and purchase high-priced properties to accommodate the increasing number of illegal immigrants in the UK even when it is on the verge of getting ‘broke’. Following the revelation of a British elderly couple who had to fight to retain their house, questions have been raised about the UK’s migrant policy.
The matter came to light when an elderly couple who had just moved into their house worth around USD 251775 (200,000 pounds) received an “Empty property initiative letter”. The couple was horrified as the letter ‘suggested’ that the property should be compulsorily sold so that the council could use it to house illegal immigrants, referred to as “asylum seekers” in the letter.
An elderly British couple were informed by a council letter trying to 'force' them to sell home in order to house illegal immigrants. pic.twitter.com/31S3GyrS3F
— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) February 18, 2024
The elderly British couple, Jose and Ted Saunders said that they were ‘insulted and shocked’ when they received the strongly-worded letter from North Northamptonshire Council last month. In the letter, the Council mentioned that their neat mid-terraced house in Rushden, near Wellingborough, was deemed to be an empty property, or was ‘derelict’ and the council could even force them to sell it.
Retired carer Jose (76) slammed the council and said, “I couldn’t believe it. We moved to Rushden to help provide childcare for my granddaughter and found this nice little place to live. The idea of forcing us to sell it to make room for refugees and asylum seekers seems totally wrong.”
The elderly couple who haven’t received papers for the house fear that they won’t receive deeds for the house. Jose added, “It was all the more worrying as we’d only moved in last November, so we still hadn’t received the deeds for the house.”
The letter titled ‘Empty Properties and Sites Initiative’ had their exact address in bold. While the couple recently shifted to the house in November last year and have been residing in it, the council argued, “We are writing as we have reason to believe that the above-named premises… is empty or unused.”
The letter continued, “The Government has identified empty privately-owned properties as a potential cause of blight within communities and as a wasted resource at time of high housing need.”
Justifying its controversial migrant policy, the Council noted that it was seeing a ‘considerable increase’ in positive immigration decisions. As per the council, the decisions have been made in favour of asylum seekers, mainly single men. For that, the authority was ‘struggling’ to source suitable accommodation for them, the letter added.
According to the Tory-led Council, the ideal long-term solution for the large influx of illegal immigrants (referred to as asylum seekers) would be to provide accommodation by using empty properties which would benefit owners and the project. It said the council could make a compulsory purchase order on the property.
Following the letter, Retired driving instructor Ted (78) and his wife made all efforts to retain their house and called the council to question them over the development. When they pressed and criticism mounted, three days later, they received an apology letter from the council.
In the apology letter, the council said that their staff had mistakenly earmarked the house for possible compulsory purchase. Following their rationale, the Elderly British Couple raised questions about the policy itself.
Jose asked, “What on earth is the council doing forcing people to sell their houses – and even an empty house is owned by someone – so that asylum seekers can live in them?”
She added, “The answer to this is to stop them coming in the first place, not to force people out of their homes.”
Financially stretched Council allegedly spending huge sums to support “illegal immigrants”, puts UK’s migrant policy in the dock
On Thursday (15th February), Politician Ben Habib of the Reform UK Party seized the matter to raise questions over the migrant policy. Habib, who is also the party’s co-deputy leader, told MailOnline: “I was horrified to hear the plight of Mr. & Mrs. Saunders, but my horror could not compare to what they experienced last month.”
He added, “They were served with a letter from North Northamptonshire District Council seeking to possess their home. The accusation made was their home was derelict and the Council intended to use it to house single young men seeking asylum. Known to the rest of us as illegal migrants.”
Habib reiterated that the elderly couple was distraught by the threat made by the Council and they feared not having title deeds and being incapable of defending their position.
He raised questions over the Council’s financial decisions highlighting that the Council is virtually on the verge of being broke.
He fumed, “It is utterly shocking that the Council would fire off a letter like that to two elderly people. And do so with the aim of buying a £200,000 house for asylum seekers. This is from a Council that is as good as bust and has never filed consolidated accounts since it was established in 2021.”
Habib argued that the same funds should be used for supporting hapless British citizens and armed forces veterans.
“The local charity for homeless people, the Daylight Centre, spends £650 per head per homeless person per year. Think what that charity could do with £200,000! It would be able to provide care for over 300 British citizens. There are also veterans’ charities in the constituency struggling to care of soldiers who risked life and limb for the country. Instead of the money going to them, the Council was prepared to blow it on housing maybe 4 migrants, after forcing out of their home two elderly British citizens. Disgraceful,” he was quoted saying in Daily Mail.
According to British media, the North Northamptonshire Council is run by the Tories who claim to be championing local issues. It has completely failed to manage its budget since its inception in 2021. Earlier, the council had defended itself arguing that increased pressures from demand-led services have driven up costs.
However, the Council justified its actions and policy. Speaking with MailOnline, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) Jason Smithers argued that the NNC is just trying to bring empty and dilapidated properties into use.
The official claimed that Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) are not utilised to “oust” current owners from their properties rather they are a tool used as a very last resort to bring valuable properties that are empty or dilapidated back into use.
The officials said, “Unfortunately, in this case, records held by NNC were outdated, and the letter was incorrectly sent to a property that was occupied. For this, I am very sorry for causing any undue distress and worry.”
Pertinent to note that a similar criticism against ‘migrant policy’ was witnessed in the United States earlier in January this year. Notably, on account of surging illegal immigration in the US, the New York City administration had shut down a school to house 2,000 migrants. Back then, the locals had concerns that the illegal immigrants housed in the school had criminal records and hence they feared for their safety. Reacting to the developments, Elon Musk had warned that the administration would soon be coming after people’s houses as well forcing them to accommodate these illegal immigrants in their houses.
Conspicuously, as part of the 60-day limit order explained here, a 40-year-old mother from Colombia, Mayra Martinez for whom the US government had provided hotel accommodation was asked to shift to another accommodation. Following the temporary eviction, she said her three children have mixed feelings about leaving the Row. The family had been living at the hotel for more than a year and had saved up enough to rent a three-bedroom apartment in nearby Newark, New Jersey.
