THE EQUALITY IMPLICATIONS OF BEING A MIGRANT IN BRITAIN
workers for document checks and other measures in a discriminatory way on the basis of names, nationality or appearance. Housing Access to social housing is determined in law by eligibility (based on immigration status) and need (for example, homelessness, overcrowding), but may also be subject to discrimination. Statistics about tenure, rent levels and income are available from national housing surveys, but none of these include country of birth, date of arrival or nationality. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that widespread discrimination occurs against A8 housing applicants, who are routinely turned away unless they have worked and been registered on the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) for a year in the UK – even though (Department of) Communities and Local Government guidance tells local authorities firmly that they are eligible while working during this time. Between 2004 and 2007, 35 per cent of their applications to local authorities for homelessness assistance were accepted, compared with 47 per cent of all applications nationally. Although new migrants are concentrated in the private rented sector, the percentages of new migrants, foreign-born and UK-born residents in social housing are quite similar at 11–18 per cent. However, these figures include refugees who are more likely to be eligible for social housing than work or family migrants from outside the EU. The courts have also found that homelessness law is not fully compatible with human rights legislation in relation to the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of nationality. Poverty and length of waiting time are also significant factors in determining who is housed in the social sector. A higher percentage of people born in Bangladesh, Jamaica, Afghanistan and Somalia live in social housing, as compared to those born in the UK, probably reflecting both eligibility (due to refugee status, long residence or citizenship) and poverty. Most other people born abroad have significantly higher percentages in the private rented sector. One study of new migrants found 44 per cent were sharing a room and a third of them had moved in the last eight months, although agricultural workers reported a higher level of satisfaction with their (more regulated) accommodation than others. There is anecdotal evidence that some housing associations refuse to accept people with time limits on their stay. As a result of a lack of access to accommodation and advice, together with discrimination, there is evidence that many migrant communities are living in very poor and overcrowded conditions.
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