Politics · ArchiveTory Plan to Evict 230,000 Foreign Nationals Tested Against 1.3M WaitlistAired August 7, 2026 at 11:22 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00The Conservative Party has announced0:01plans to [music] evict foreign nationals0:03from social housing if it returns to0:05power. A pledge leader Kemi Badenoch0:07says would make around [music] 230,0000:09homes available to British families,0:11according to Sky News reporting of the0:13announcement. About 230,000 households0:16would be evicted under the plans, Sky0:17News reports. That is being measured0:19against approximately 1.3 million0:21[music] households on the social housing0:23waiting list in England, about six times0:25larger than the number that would be0:26freed. [music] Sky News analysis is0:28testing that claim against the scale of0:29the shortage. England has about 4.10:32million social rented homes today, and0:34an overwhelming majority is already0:35occupied by British nationals,0:37>> [music]0:37>> limiting how far the evictions could0:38stretch supply. In 1980, there were 5.50:41million social rent homes in England.0:43Since then, about 2 million have been0:45sold through right [music] to buy, and0:46Sky News notes new builds have not kept0:48up to replace them, leaving a structural0:50gap that drives the current shortage.0:52[music] Campaigners say the UK already0:54faces a spiraling homelessness problem0:56with increasing numbers of children in0:58temporary accommodation, warning these1:00plans could push children and families1:01into homelessness. The government says1:03access [music] to social housing is1:05already tightly controlled, and the plan1:07risks pushing up costs and harming1:08communities. The pledge lands as Reform1:11UK [music] touts a similar ban on1:12foreign nationals in social housing, and1:14labor focuses on migration this summer.1:16>> [music]1:16>> Sky News analysis suggests the1:18Conservative policy could be more about1:20political signaling than a practical1:21[music] change that would meaningfully1:23ease the 1.3 million household waiting1:25list, leaving unresolved whether it1:27would advance beyond announcement, and1:29what its cost, community, and1:30homelessness consequences would actually1:32be.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗