New immigrants and migrants in social housing in Britain: Discursive themes and lived realities

Abstract

The perception that new immigrants and migrants are unfairly advantaged in the allocation of social housing is one of the most frequently cited injustices of new immigration in Britain. Tapping into dominant notions of the immigrant as folk devil and a long tradition of scapegoating blameworthy groups for problems accessing social housing, this debate has all the hallmarks of a moral panic, with exaggeration and distortion raising public concern to a level disproportionate to any apparent or rational threat. This point is reinforced by a review of the experiences of new immigrants and migrants within the social housing allocation process.