Row erupts over Sheffield council's plan for housing as policy slammed as 'racist'
A Sheffield policy on council housing allocation was condemned as “racist” for including a clause to say that applicants need to have been in the city for three years.
Coun Paul Turpin urged Sheffield City Council’s housing policy committee to include an exemption clause for asylum seekers and refugees to the three-year rule. This is because it is difficult for them to achieve, even though the time they spend in Home Office accommodation in Sheffield is included.
He raised the point during a discussion about an overhaul of the council’s housing allocation policy. This outlines the rules for how people apply to be on the waiting list, how housing need priorities are decided and how the system works.
Coun Turpin told the meeting yesterday (January 29) that the policy contradicts the council’s standing as the first UK City of Sanctuary and its declaration of being an anti-racist city following the Sheffield Race Equality Commission report of 2022.
He asked: “This policy contradicts those policies, so what does that mean for those policies? Will those policies prevent us from passing a housing allocation policy that is essentially racist or will that mean that those other commitments fall and disappear?
“I don’t see how we can hold both positions at the same time.”
He pointed out that Nottingham City Council has an exemption in its rules.
Coun Turpin unsuccessfully proposed delaying adoption of the policy. Both he and fellow Green Party councillor Douglas Johnson, who chairs the committee, voted against accepting the policy, which was passed 7-2.
Deputy council leader Coun Fran Belbin said: “I do disagree it’s a racist policy. I had a lot of discussions with the City of Sanctuary housing specialist to get to the bottom of this.”
She said the sheer size of the waiting list means that in practice asylum seekers and refugees are unlikely to be housed by the council, unless in exceptional circumstances.
“The question is how do you get roofs over people’s heads who need them? It isn’t by putting them on the council register.”
Coun Belbin said that the council would work with groups like City of Sanctuary to help support people to find private sector homes.
There are seven bands of people on the housing register, with priorities ranging from emergency to reduced preference. People in the bottom two bands must now make at least one bid every 12 months to remain on it.
Rehousing service manager David Wilkinson said that 10,000 people have never placed a bid. One person has been registered since 1961 but only made one bid 15 years ago.
Coun Penny Baker said that the number of council homes has gone down from 94,000 when she first became a councillor to 38,000 now.
One major reason is the right to buy policy for council homes.
A report to the committee said: “Since the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, the number of households with a priority at any one time has increased from 633 in March 2020 to 1,290 in December 2025.
“Of current priority awards, 64% are to homeless households owed a legal rehousing duty by the council. In the last 12 months 2701 priorities were awarded.”
It added: “The waiting time with a priority for a one or two-bedroomed property has increased from an average of three months in March2020 to six months currently.
“For a three-bedroomed property the time has increased to 10 months from three months and for a four-bedroomed property the waiting time is now more than two years.”