HOUSING SHORTAGE

The number of asylum seekers coming into Derby has been blamed for a mounting housing crisis in the city. Conservative Philip Hickson, deputy leader of the council, made the claim after obtaining figures which show too many homeless people are chasing too few homes. The number of people registered homeless has rocketed in the past year whilst the number of homes has plummeted. There are currently 517 people registered homeless in the city but only 38 council houses available.

In contrast, figures for April 2004 show there were 187 people needing housing who then had a choice of 181 homes. Councillor Hickson, who is responsible for housing, said the influx of asylum seekers over the last few years has been to blame. When asylum seekers are given refugee status, they are considered citizens and the council has a duty to house them. And Mr Hickson believes the situation is only going to get worse.

He said, "The amount of refugees is putting a huge strain on the housing, GP and education systems. In Derby there are more people than available resources. There is a problem and there is no immediate solution and it is only going to get worse. It is pretty grim all round. Once their asylum application is approved they become resident in the city and the council has a duty to house them. The only solution would be to build hundreds of houses, but that's not going to happen as we've not been budgeted for building and we don't have the land in the city."

It was in the late 1990s that asylum seekers started flocking to Derby in the aftermath of the Kosovo war. Latest figures from the city council suggest that there are about 1,800 asylum seekers in Derby. Lib Dem Maurice Burgess, leader of the city council, said, "As soon as the asylum seeker is given permission to stay in the local authority area, it's our responsibility to house them, but we only have a limited number of properties. This is a problem that's been swept under the carpet by the previous Labour council. We'll have to look to central Government to come forward with finance to start providing more housing."

Richard Jones, chief executive of the Padley Group, which works with the most deprived members of the community, says he expects more homeless people on the streets if the situation is not resolved. He said, "Derby is the 12th largest recipient in the UK of asylum applicants, but we're not the 12th largest city. The amount of people becoming homeless in Derby has mushroomed and we'll continue to see more and more people on the streets." There are 1,600 vacant or disused buildings in Derby, but these are not being used to house people registered homeless because they are currently deemed uninhabitable.

Debbie Dredge was told by Barking and Dagenham Council that she had more chance of getting a council home if she couldn't speak english. She was also warned her chances were damaged because she had family and friends living in Britain. A letter from the council detailed who should be given priority. The note, signed by official Solomon Adeyeni, said, "This may include no money, inability to work, no family or friends and in some instances inability to speak the English language. I am satisfied you can speak English, your family and friends are living in this country and you are also receiving benefit."

Council chiefs defended the letter (of course) and claimed the clause about not speaking English came from court judgments and had nothing to do with them. A spokesman said, "In other cases that have gone to court, some people have been given vulnerable status in part because they didn't speak English. The reason we have mentioned it is because when we make our decision we have to take into account what judges in courts have previously decided. We have no choice about this. All we are doing is pointing out previous decisions and explaining to Ms Dredge why she does not fulfil any of the criteria for special status." (Source: Sunday People, Jun/06)