Tories pledge to evict foreign nationals from social housing to free up homes

Responding to the news that foreign nationals would lose their right to social housing in the UK under a Conservative government, Manjinder Kaur Atwal – director of housing law at Duncan Lewis Solicitors – believes that approach would more than likely breach rules.

She said: “This proposal is far more legally complicated than the headline suggests.

“Parliament can change future eligibility rules, but retrospectively evicting existing lawful tenants — including refugees and others with humanitarian protection — simply because of their nationality would almost certainly breach the European Convention on Human Rights and UK equality law, and in some cases the UK’s international obligations.

“Coming amid renewed debate about leaving the ECHR, this looks more like a political statement than a workable policy — a blanket six-month eviction requirement based on nationality would be extremely difficult to implement without triggering legal challenge.”