So, as I predicted, migrants are being taken from the 4-star hotels to be housed in the community.
I predicted that rents would go up, based on the government offering 5 grand a month per immigrant to landloards.
Well, the landlords have come up with a great scheme: the HMO (House of Multiple Occupancy).
This fulfils a number of government requirements: it gets the immigrants out of posh hotels and reduces the optics a bit and it also spreads the immigrants out into the wider community.
For the landlord, it's a win-win
If the landlord created normal flats, he'd only get two flats out of a four-bed house. The conversion cost would be more too: Introducing a second kitchen and bathroom, etc.
The HMO is a cheaper proposition. The lounge and the kitchen stay communal, and only the sleeping areas are private.
For the landlord, it's a win-win. A HMO is an easy conversion. The landlord buys 4-bedroom house, then all he has to do is put locks on the bedroom doors and stick some furniture in there and Bob's your uncle, HMO done.
Apart from the planning paperwork, of course. But councils are under pressure to accept HMO applications and the government's push to relax planning red-tape is directly linked to the rise of HMOs and the opposition to them by local residents.
Also, the landlord only gets 2 rents from a 2-flat conversion, with rents restricted by market forces. So, say 2K per month per flat which is 4K. With the HMO filled with immigrants, the government is offering 5K per immigrant. Four immigrants at 5K each is a 20K income, which is 5 times more than "traditional" renting.
The thing is, that all the big 4-bed houses are in affluent middle-class areas. We all know those areas, where there are lots of big houses and lots of elderly people in them.
All those big houses attracting inheritance tax. Tax that the families can't pay without selling the house. To rich landlords.
The problem for the government is opposition from local residents and planning authorities, which is why they are looking to "streamline" the planning process. It's not just for infrastructure projects, it's for lesser projects like HMOs that the government desperately needs to create in large numbers in order to reduce the optics of migrants in hotels.
It also makes it more difficult to protest against migrants if they are dispersed into the community.
The risk for the government is alienating the middle class. Up until now, it's only the working class that have been affected, had their kids raped by immigrants.
But the risk is now that as the middle classes are affected, they won't be as amenable to the importation of illegals.
So far, the middle class have been the bulk of the supporters of illegal immigrants. But that will change as more middle-class areas are affected.
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