We'll make sure British families always come first: HELEN WHATELY

By HELEN WHATELY, SHADOW SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WORK AND PENSIONS Published: 23:00, 6 August 2026 | Updated: 23:00, 6 August 2026 An Englishman’s home is his castle. Yet nearly a quarter of a million social homes in England – subsidised by British taxpayers – are being rented out to foreign nationals. Almost half of London’s social housing is let out to foreign nationals in one of the most expensive property markets in the world. While British families sit on council waiting lists for years, many thousands of homes in our capital city are being let at below market rates to citizens of other countries. This simply doesn’t make sense. Social housing is hard to come by and heavily subsidised. Once granted, tenancies can last a lifetime. In some cases, future generations can even inherit them. Our welfare bill, which includes housing benefit, is out of control. Welfare should be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice. We need a fair system that the public has confidence in, and that puts British people first. That is why the Conservative Party will end the social housing tenancies for foreign nationals, except for those with EU Settled Status. Helen Whately, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, speaking at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, October 6, 2025 And for every future tenancy, only UK nationals would be eligible; all other nationalities, including EU citizens, would be excluded from social housing. As these properties are freed up, they will pass straight to British families at the top of the waiting list, families who may be living in expensive and unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation, or private rental properties they cannot afford. Nearly 230,000 homes could go to British families as a result – giving them security and saving the taxpayer millions. These are common sense changes. Currently over 1.3million households are on social housing waiting lists whilst we continue to hand out thousands of social homes each year to foreigners. This cannot continue. These changes build on our broader plan to end benefits for foreign nationals – saving taxpayers £7billion a year. For 50 years, a British family and a household that had arrived two years ago have often been given exactly the same chance. This must change. We will restore the principle of fairness and make sure British families always come first.