Migration Watch Figures Out by 50%

Migration Watch claim that over the 25 years from 2008 to 2033, social housing for immigrants will cost £25bn. One key part of their calculation is that the government will pay £60,000 for each unit of social housing. However, in the Spending Review of Oct 2010 the government announced that it planned to pay for 150,000 new social houses over the period of the review. In this letter from the Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, he says that spending on new social housing will be £4.5bn over the period of the review. That works out at just £30,000 per unit or half what Migration Watch were assuming, therefore reducing their final value by half to £500m a year.