Housing migrant workers: the can and the can't
Barney Crockett, Director, Grampian Racial Equalities Council
Liz Burns, Policy and Practice Officer, SFHA
Barney began his session with a quiz – changing world, changing role – to provoke some thinking around the impact of immigration, the pace of change and the realities faced by migrant workers in Scotland.
Key facts that emerged included:
- Eastern European women account for 69% of the current abortions in Aberdeen;
- Murray and Angus respectively have the highest proportionate rise in migration in Scotland; and
- in Edinburgh, over 80 different languages are spoken by children in schools
These facts reflect not only the speed of change, but a greater need for housing and appropriate infrastructure to support new migrant populations.
He said that there have been changes in migration patterns as people have moved away from large urban areas to smaller, rural areas with ageing populations where there are more low paid industrial jobs which don't attract local people. As such, migrant workers are helping to support and regenerate failing local businesses and industry and help sustain local communities. However, this change has led to a shortage of appropriate housing to support this economic migration.
Liz Burns re-emphasised the benefits and cultural diversity that new migrant communities bring to Scotland and challenged the audience to move into the 21st century and embrace change.
She moved on to challenge that immigration and Scottish housing policy is an uncomfortable partnership – partly because immigration is a national issue and policies are determined in Westminster and housing is a devolved issue which has created a divergence in policy and attitude. This is compounded by the unique nature of homelessness legislation in Scotland which allows refugees to apply as homeless to any local authority area.
She added that housing association face additional challenges as they cannot restrict access to waiting list and have and as a result are housing many more migrants and A8 nationals. However she warned of the potential conflict as neither group will not be able to access housing benefit – therefore cannot actually sustain a tenancy.
Liz argued that we need to think of new ways to offer choices and new approaches to paying for housing where anomalies occur. She concluded that we need to rally to the consistent message: Scotland needs migrant workers, they enrich the country, the labour market and sustain potentially fragile communities.