Campaigning charity Shelter has criticised a Conservative Party housing idea as “unworkable”.

The Tories say they will end the provision of social housing for foreign nationals in England if they win the next election.

It said ending new tenancies for all foreign nationals – as well as current tenancies for couples where neither person is a UK, Irish or EU citizen – would free up 228,144 homes for British families.

This would effectively oblige foreign nationals who could not buy a home to use the private rental sector.

But Alicia Walker, deputy director at Shelter, has told Sky News: “Fundamentally it’s unworkable.”.

She “co tinted: Whether or not the intentions behind it are genuine isn’t for me to necessarily analyse ultimately.

“What I can see from this with a thorough understanding of policy is that it doesn’t target the problem, it doesn’t target the solution.

“It just distracts from the really meaningful conversation, which is about the need for councils to be able to build more social housing, because that’s where the problem lies.”

Walker says the policy doesn’t seem to acknowledge the “really strict rules on eligibility” that already exist for social housing.

“Homes are not handed out to people on arrival.

“In order to access social housing you have to be legally settled.”

She adds that people need to have a local connection and reach the top of the waiting list before getting placed into social housing.

They also pay rent that goes into the public purse.

Under the Conservative plan, ineligible tenants would be expected to move out of their homes within six months. 

Any single person currently living in social housing who is not a UK, Irish or EU citizen would lose their social home. This includes those with or without children.

Couples, where neither of them are UK or EU citizens, and they do not have EU settled status, will also lose their entitlement.

Anyone with EU settled status would not be evicted.

For future tenancies, UK nationals and those with EU settled status would be eligible but any new EU citizens without settled status would not be.

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

Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing, unless in exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases.

The vast majority of social housing lettings are given to single people. 

In 2024-25, most lead tenants of new social lettings, the person in whose name the social home is rented, were UK nationals – 89% or 233,000 tenants.

In the same period, 2.3% of new lettings were given to refugees – 800 refugees were UK nationals, while the remaining 3,900 were non-UK nationals.