The Conservative Party has said it would end social housing provision for foreign nationals in England if it wins the next election.

It said the move would free up an estimated 228,144 homes for British families.

According to a report by the BBC on Friday, the plan targets two groups. These are all foreign nationals seeking new social housing tenancies, and couples currently occupying homes where neither person holds UK, Irish or EU citizenship.

The party said Labour had lost control of immigration. It added that British families had been left on housing waiting lists as a result.

Labour described the proposal as unworkable and said it was modelled on a Reform UK policy.

The party said the plan did not address the housing crisis, which it blamed on the Conservatives’ previous time in government, the BBC reported.

The policy follows an earlier pledge by Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage.

In June, Farage proposed giving foreign tenants a three-month window to secure private housing or face deportation, should his party win power.

Households found ineligible under the Conservative plan would have six months to leave, according to the report.

A single tenant who is not a UK, Irish or EU citizen would lose their social home, whether or not they have children, the BBC said.

The same applies to couples where neither partner holds UK or EU citizenship and neither has EU settled status. Those with EU settled status would not be affected.

For future tenancies, only UK nationals and holders of EU settled status would be eligible. New EU citizens without settled status would not qualify, the report added.

Foreign nationals with settled status, refugee status, or specific humanitarian protections currently qualify for social housing, the BBC reported.

Asylum seekers are not eligible, except in exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases.

Social housing is usually provided by councils and housing associations. It is typically cheaper and more secure than privately rented accommodation, according to the report.

The BBC noted that the Conservatives, while last in government in 2024, had considered a policy requiring foreign nationals to live in the UK for 10 years before qualifying for social housing.

As of March 2025, 1.34 million households were on social housing waiting lists, according to the latest government figures cited by the BBC.

The report showed that the majority of social housing lettings go to single people. UK nationals made up 89 per cent, or about 233,000, of lead tenants granted new social lettings in the 2024-2025 period.

Refugees accounted for 2.3 per cent of new lettings in the same period. Of these, 800 were UK nationals, while 3,900 were non-UK nationals. Afghan nationals were the largest group among the refugees, followed by Ukrainians, the BBC reported.

Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary, Helen Whately, said settling in Britain should be earned through employment, tax contributions and integration.

She said it should not be treated as an entitlement under the welfare system.

“Britain cannot be a cash machine for the world. Labour has lost control of immigration and lost control of the welfare bill, and it is British families picking up the bill and sitting on waiting lists,” Whately said.

Labour’s Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, said the policy would affect refugees and long-settled UK residents.

She said it would also increase the risk of homelessness for more families, the BBC reported.

“No amount of headline-chasing, or following Reform to the extremes, can hide the damage the Tories did to our housing system,” Rayner said.

She described the proposal as an unworkable copy of Reform UK’s policy that did not address the housing crisis.

Housing and homelessness charity, Shelter, said access to social housing was already tightly restricted. Its chief executive, Sarah Elliott, said accommodation was not granted automatically on arrival in the country.

“These divisive plans would brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades,” Elliott said.

She attributed the housing emergency to a longstanding failure by successive governments to build enough affordable social homes.

Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, said the Conservatives had copied his party’s policy without matching its scope.

He said the exemption for holders of EU settled status was a gap in the plan.

“Incredibly, Kemi Badenoch’s new policy is to allow tens of thousands of foreign nationals from the EU to occupy British social housing funded by British taxpayers. Reform UK will ensure British social housing is strictly for British citizens,” Yusuf said.