Reform UK Proposes British-Born Priority For Social Homes

Reform UK has said it would prioritise British-born people under 35 when allocating social housing if it entered government, alongside other groups including former members of the armed forces and married couples with children.

The party set out plans alongside leader Deputy Leader Richard Tice, who also outlined a proposal to build 50,000 affordable social homes per year. Reform said the plan could be delivered without new taxes or extra borrowing.

Allocation Rules For Social Housing

Reform’s policy would change the rules that determine who receives a social home in England. It said at least half of all social homes would be reserved for British-born applicants aged under 35.

Under the wider priority list, it said preference would also be given to married couples, veterans, victims of domestic violence and care leavers.

Tice argued the approach should move away from allocations based on need alone towards “suitability”, with British families, workers and veterans placed at the front of the queue.

Reform also claimed that overseas nationals currently occupy a large share of social housing. It said there were 540,000 social homes occupied by foreign nationals, and pointed to the English Housing Survey figure that 88.5% of main householders in 2024/25 were UK or Irish nationals, meaning about 11.5% were non-UK or Irish nationals.

Plans To Build 50,000 Homes A Year

At a news conference, Tice said Reform aimed to deliver 50,000 affordable social homes each year. He said this would require investment of £10bn a year.

Reform said it would raise money by reintroducing the Right to Buy scheme from the 1980s, allowing tenants to purchase council homes at a discount. The party said proceeds would be reinvested into building new affordable homes.

Tice said a third of the funding would come from housing authorities, while the final third would be raised via local government pension schemes. He added that reinvestment from Right to Buy sales would cover part of the overall investment needed for the ten-year programme.

Criticism From Labour, Tories And Others

Labour criticised the proposals as “unworkable and unserious”, arguing they could leave British citizens without a place to live. A Labour spokesperson also said the plan would create a £10bn blackhole in public finances and would involve years of dispute with the European Union.

The Conservatives said Reform was trying to “catch up” with its own approach. The Tories have also said they would revoke the right of foreign nationals to social housing, while their plan would allow Irish citizens and some EU nationals to remain. They said this would free up around 230,000 homes.

Sir James Cleverly, the Conservatives’ shadow housing secretary, said the party already had plans to ensure British nationals were prioritised, and argued that Reform’s policy was a delayed version of similar proposals.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson Gideon Amos said Reform’s plan was a “cruel gimmick”.

Green MP Siân Berry said the party would instead end Right to Buy, build and buy hundreds of thousands of new council homes, and introduce rent controls. She described Reform’s proposals as racist and said they would create a two-tier system in which people born in the UK are treated differently from others.

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25 August 2026