“I think we all know immigration and house building hasn’t kept up. Immigration puts a big strain especially on housing.”
It was one of the most viral moments to come from the BBC’s Question Time episode for the Makerfield by-election as Reform UK’s Rob Kenyon and the Green’s Sarah Wakefield clashed over whether a housing crisis in the UK is being driven by immigration.
Immigration and HMOs in Wigan?
Mr Kenyon said immigration ‘plays a massive part in the demand for new houses’ driving up rental and house prices. Ms Wakefield argued ‘the idea of blaming our housing crisis on immigration is absolutely wild’ and housing issues were ‘not necessarily to do with immigration’.
Claims have also been spread that the Wigan borough is seeing an influx of HMOs (houses of multiple occupation) housing asylum seekers and the level of immigration into the borough is pricing local people out. It’s one topic that keeps coming up when people are asked about the big issues influencing their vote.
As people prepare to head to the polls tomorrow, the LDRS decided to look at whether it’s true immigration has been the driver of housing problems in Wigan and what we’ve found might surprise some people.
Plenty new homes, but not enough social housing
In Wigan, data shows the number of households increased by 6,714 between 2011 and 2021 but the overall number of available homes in that time period across Wigan increased by 8,598. The Office for National Statistics defines a ‘household’ as one person living alone, or a group of people, not necessarily related, living at the same address.
This is a growth of 4.9% but sits below the national average of 6.2%. After this period from 2022 and March 2025, a further 3,723 homes also became available.
Despite that increase in new homes, the waiting list for social housing has massively increased. In 2012, the number of people on the housing register was 3,591 but by March 2021 the number of people waiting was 8,460.
This rose nearly 2,000 to 10,404 in 2022 and peaked in 2023 at 12,018. However in 2024 and 2025, the number of people waiting for social housing dropped with 10,295 people left waiting in March 2025, a decrease of more than 1,700.
To combat this, Wigan Council said in March it has built more than 2,100 affordable homes since 2019 with more than 680 of these being council. However it is getting pricier for those looking to get onto the property ladder.
Price increases less than elsewhere
First time buyers are estimated to be paying on average £5,000 more in 2026 than they did in 2025 for a home. House prices on average are £191,000 though this year’s increase is not even half the rise seen across the whole North West region.
Wigan overall is more affordable too with flat prices actually decreasing in the year to April 2026. House prices are £27,000 below the North West average and £79,000 below the UK average.
A Wigan Council spokesperson said demand for social housing was ‘caused by a range of factors, including increased house prices and private rental costs’ and they had updated their allocations policy to ‘meet the demand of residents and enable those with the greatest need to access safe, secure, affordable housing’.
HMOs now need planning permission in Wigan
In recent years, one of the biggest housing issues highlighted in Wigan has been the increase in HMOs across the borough. In July 2025, Wigan Council’s cabinet approved a policy meaning all new HMO applications have to go to planning for approval.
Private rents are up in Wigan by 7.5% which is higher than the rest of the North West but the ONS data also shows private rents for four or more bedrooms saw the lowest rise. Rents are also more than £200 lower than the North West average and £600 a month below the UK average.
Rents are high because social housing was sold off or demolished, leaving a shortage
An article published by the Big Issue on June 17 said: ‘The short answer to why rent is so high is because there is a shortage of affordable housing. There is a housing crisis in the UK because not enough homes have been built by successive governments in the last few decades at a time where social housing stock has been sold off to the private sector through Right to Buy or demolished and not replaced.”
When Wigan introduced its HMO policy, David Proctor, assistant director, planning and regeneration, said there had been an increase in numbers, particularly of small HMOs with fewer than six people, and they were ‘now seeking greater control’. A councillor suggested numbers had increased by 178 between 2021 and 2025.
Since that policy, a register is updated of all of the different HMOs across the borough registered with the council including any new ones.
Most HMOs don’t house asylum seekers
This shows that 13 HMOs appear to have been licensed so far in 2026 and 64 HMOs were licensed each year in 2024 and 2025. The total number of licensed HMOs from 2022 to present is currently 190.
However not all of these will be used to house asylum seekers and the council disclosed in November 2025 that out of the 211 licensed HMOs in the borough at that time, 55 were used to house asylum seekers. With around 146,000 households in Wigan currently, this equates to 0.03% of homes in the borough.
In September 2025, Wigan Council also issued a statement on the issue. They said Serco, the contractor managing asylum seeker accommodation on behalf of the government, ‘operates around 300 properties in the borough for asylum seeker housing, approximately 200 of which are HMOs’.
Since 2023, the council ‘have had an agreement with the Home Office that no further properties are to be procured by Serco in our borough’. The LDRS understands this agreement is still in place.
In 2026, the local authority also published a new housing strategy looking at addressing issues in the borough, including ‘the limited supply of homes to meet the increasing need for affordable and older persons accommodation’. On social housing, the council said their approach ‘will exclude applicants who own their own home and those without a local connection to the Wigan borough’.
Looking at where migration might fit into this context, data for the number of asylum seekers in the borough only goes back to 2023.
That shows the number of asylum seekers housed in the borough was 1,302 of which 172 were through the Homes for Ukraine and Afghan Resettlement Programme. This number has increased to 1,486 in 2026 with 53% of the increase being more Ukrainians resettling.
Immigration per year is never more than 1% of the Wigan population.
A lot of those are legal migrants.
Between 2012 and 2024, ONS data shows the Wigan population increased by an estimated 26,813 with the net migration of people from overseas into Wigan during this period being 9,642. This makes up nearly 36% of the overall population increase.
In 2021, ONS Census data also says the number of people in the Makerfield constituency who had been living in the UK for less than two years was only 0.4%. The figure for those who had been in the UK for less than 10 years was less than 2%.
In any year, the number of international migrants moving to the whole of Wigan is never more than 1% of the total population. Figures peak in 2022 where more than 3,000 moved to the borough from overseas but this dropped to 1,840 by 2024.
However there was a dramatic increase from 2021 to 2022 where the number of people moving to Wigan from overseas leapt from 228 to 3,079. This 1,350% increase is far higher than any in the previous decade but is in line with a sharp increase in immigration across the country at the time.
Of the 9,642 people who moved to Wigan from overseas between 2012 and 2024, 7,265 of thosecame between 2022 and 2024. It must be noted the ONS estimates include those who have immigrated to the UK legally as well as those who may have come to the UK illegally.
Until asylum is granted people are not eligible for social housing
The spike in international migration between 2022 and 2024 does coincide with an increase to the number of people on the housing waiting list in the borough. However while people are waiting for a decision on any asylum claim, they cannot be eligible for council housing or claim benefits.
A spokesperson for Wigan Council also said their recently signed off social housing allocations policy has also ‘strengthened local connection rules’ and requires those wanting a social home to have lived in Wigan for at least three years.
The spokesperson added: “The Allocations Policy aims to reflect the needs of residents, optimise available housing stock, and support communities across Wigan Borough, while ensuring there is an adequate supply of safe, affordable homes is a key, long-term priority for the council.”
There was also a significant increase in people moving to Wigan from other parts of the UK over this same period too. Between 2012 and 2016, more people moved out of the borough but this dramatically shifted in 2017.
More people came from elsewhere in the UK than from abroad
Between 2022 and 2024, 8,393 people moved to Wigan from other parts of the UK which is more than the international migration figures over the same period. In fact in 2024, nearly 1,200 more people moved to Wigan from elsewhere in the UK than from overseas.
Much of the ONS data available, particularly on the migration estimates for Wigan, only run up until 2024 meaning it is difficult to get a more up-to-date picture in 2026.
However since 2024, migration into the UK has almost halved across the entire country with figures at their lowest level since 2012 excluding the COVID-19 pandemic. ONS data also showed the number of people claiming asylum in the year to March 2026 has dropped by 12%.
What is clear though from this short investigation is the situation is more complicated than any political soundbite or social media comment might tell you.
By Local Democracy Reporter Ed Barnes.
Friends of Bylines Network
There has never been a greater need for grassroots journalism that investigates the stories that really matter, holds power to account and champions the voices of everyday citizens. We are proudly powered by volunteers but what we do isn’t free.
STAND WITH US for independent, citizen-led journalism that makes democracy stronger, and you will even get some exclusive benefits.
