Migrants are putting immense and unsustainable pressure on Britain's housing market, according to a warning from Michael Gove, the Housing Secretary. Gove admitted that the market's failure to keep up with the number of people moving to Britain is even worse than commonly believed.

Record Migration Rates Overwhelm Housing Market

New statistics reveal that a record 745,000 migrants arrived in Britain last year, despite repeated pledges from the Conservative party to reduce immigration. When asked if there are enough homes to meet the demand from immigrants, Gove responded, "Yes, in fact, I think actually the situation is – if anything – worse than you depict."

Bringing Migration Down and Building More Homes

Gove emphasized the need to lower migration and simultaneously increase housing construction. He acknowledged that migratory flows add pressure to the housing market, but stressed that the shortage of homes has been an ongoing issue for generations. Gove stated, "I think it's important when we're looking at the migration figures to recognize that some of these figures are students, some of these figures are Ukrainian refugees, some of them are British nationals from Hong Kong. But you are right, we do need to bring migration down. And you're also correct, we do need to build more homes."

Government's Housing Commitments and Pledges

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has stated that the government is on track to meet their target of constructing one million new homes before the next general election. However, last year, the Tory manifesto commitment to build 300,000 new homes annually was scrapped, and rules enforcing construction in local authorities were diluted.

In light of the concerns raised by Gove, Prime Minister Sunak pledged to take further action to reduce soaring migration levels. Speaking at the Global Investment Summit, Sunak admitted that the government had not done enough to fulfill their promises and acknowledged the need for more substantial efforts.

He said, "I'm very clear that the levels of net migration are too high. They need to come down to more sustainable levels. It is encouraging that the Office for National Statistics last week said the numbers are slowing, but we need to do more."