Wigan HMO public meeting

residents' fear and anger at anti-social behaviour

link

Why is it ( from what I have seen ) that the immigrants seem to have a dominant presence in this type of accommodation when we have our own indigenous natives who are living in hostels and even worse, homeless?

Beats me CC

I tried to help a homeless person to get rented accomodation in a HMO about 18 months ago, retep1949.

When I say homeless, I mean living day to day with any friends who would put them up for a night, or two. They shared it between them.
The person had no fixed abode.

Landlords wanted £500 per month for a hovel of a room in a shared house, with 5 other occupants whom were all asylum immigrants.

The person got refused because they couldn't get a guarantor even though they were entitled to housing benefits.

It begs the question, where do the illegal, non working, scrounging, asylum seeking immigrants get their guarantor's from?

Local JP's and Councillors perhaps!

A few months ago I saw a sketch on some TV channel which showed Starmer and Rachel Reeves in conversation. Reeves is talking to Starmer and says something about Migrants. He turns to her and says" Rachel, they are NOT migrants. They are Labour voters"

The property developers who buy up theses properties to convert them into HMO's are not interested in the fact that they are possibly depriving a young family of an opportunity to get on the property ladder.

They are only interested in making money, and show scant regard to the people and the residents of the neighbourhood whom it may affect.

This current situation needs addressing by the powers that be. And, quickly.

They are not all company property developers as many are exsisting ordinary landlords, some of whom according to reports are evicting existing white british tenants as there is more money to be made by making a property into a HMO for migrants which is the case in most of them.

And to expect the present government to do anything about what is a national scandal is a non starter as they know that if any of the migrants are allowed to stay and be givan a vote, around 70% of them according to surveys will vote Labour.

And local Councils are powerless in doing anything in regard to a change of use if the property is occupied by six or less people.

You never know, one of the landlords jumping on the bandwagon of making a fast buck, may be living near you or even next door!

Asylum seekers will be guaranteed tenants through Serco.

tonker

Exactly, a scheme run by Serco, but on behalf of the government.

Now wonder people are turning to Reform!

Owdcodger.

Serco were involved prior to Labour gaining power. That is down to the tories.

But, Labour don't seem to be stemming the tide of tackling smuggling gangs, clearing the asylum backlog, and accelerating the removal of people without legal status in the UK. Instead, they put them up in hotels

Cheshire Cat

I know Serco were involved before Labour gained power, but I only said government in my comment!

Serco are still involved. One company I know have had their contract terminated next year is Centre Island Hotels (SBHL) and it was the Home Office which terminated their contract, not the Labour Party.
I've said before, a St.Helens councillor, Martin Bond, he's actually deputy leader now, was involved in that company and he also runs another company which helps immigrants get accommodation, work, medical treatment etc., etc., etc.. He's for Labour and they still vote him in!

Talk about turkeys voting for Bernard Matthews as their leader? "cluck, cluck, cluck, he's a really nice man, cluck"!

If one Councillor in St Helens is inolved in providing HMO properties for migrants or whatever you call them, you can bet that there are many other Councillors and even MP's all over the country including Wigan who see it as another nice little earner on top of their allowances/expenses and salaries/pensions.

It begs the queston of how many of the politicians of whatever party at both national and local level are Landlords with HMO property portfollios?

Martin James Bond.

Appointments.
Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation. Owned by 13 local authorities including Bolton, St. Helens and Wigan.

Amnat Ltd. Dissolved. Activity not listed.

Zuvatu. No recent activity. Immigration advisor.

Liverpool Irish Festival. He’s an Irish national. Resigned.

osted by: tonker (29690) View tonker's page

Serco are still involved. One company I know have had their contract terminated

Told you, he's Mr Know-it-all

Gaffer ...... I don't know how you've missed this one!

St.Helens Borough Council register of interests:

Employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried out for profit or gain

Self - Martin J Bond
Details provided to the Monitoring Officer*

Partner - Omruethai Bond
Centre Island Hotels Ltd


Zuvatu - Martin Bond
Occupation: Immigration Advisor
Legal form: Individual Person With Significant Control
Nature of control:
Ownership Of Shares 25 To 50 Percent

Now then ........

The Deputy Leader of St.Helens Borough Council is an immigration adviser who also happens to be a 25% to 50% shareholder of a company named Zuvatu, which is engaged in handling immigration activities.
Both he and his wife have declared interests in Centre Island Hotels Ltd.
The UK government has a contract with Centre Island Hotels Ltd to provide hotel accommodation for asylum seekers.

There's a link, and as Rolf Harris used to say ...... "Can you tell what it is yet"?

Tonker,

I didn't miss it. She's not listed as a director. 17 are listed including 12 resignations. She must have been an employee.

Posted by: tonker (29692) [View tonker's page]
"Asylum seekers will be guaranteed tenants through Serco."

I don't understand that statement

Do you not mean Serco will be guaranteed to get tenants with the Asylum seekers?

The guarantors would be the government, funded by the British tax payer. The government would pay the rent to Serco, surely?

"Asylum seekers will be .... guaranteed tenants ..... through Serco."

ie: where a tenant has, let's say, their mum and dad as 'guarantors', it guarantees that the rent will be paid. Serco will guarantee the rent will be paid.
Therefore, Serco supply 'guaranteed tenants'.

Serco are the landlords. Not, the tenants!

So, who are the tenants guarantors who will guarantee that Serco ( the landlords ) will get their rent?

You're mistaken. Serco have sub-contracts with lesser companies. Serco have contracts with property owners and hotel management companies. Serco, in some cases, may place immigrants in accommodation, but the accommodation doesn't belong to Serco. Serco will guarantee payment of the rent, subject to the contract.
For instance, if Serco offered me a 'too good to refuse' contract to house, say, 4 illegal immigrants in one of my houses, I'd tell them to shove the contract where the sun don't shine! But, if I was that way inclined, I would house the 4 immigrants and take the money off Serco, which would be guaranteed according to 'the contract'.

Serco .......

"Serco Group plc is a British multinational company that primarily serves governments worldwide. It's involved in various sectors, including defence, health, space, justice, migration, transport, and citizen services, with operations in multiple regions" etc., etc., etc..

Told you, he knows everything

Tonker.
So it's the goverment that are the guarantors, not Serco, surely?

Serco are claiming the rent off the government and then they will pay the owners of the hotel the said rent, after they have taken their considerable chunk of lets say "platform fee".

It begs the question , why don't the government cut out the middleman ( in this instance it's Serco ) and deal with the property owner directly thus saving us taxpayers a considerable amount over a fiscal period?

If your dad worked at Heinz's and you needed him to be guarantor for you to rent some, let's say, for instance, student accommodation and he did so, would Heinz's be the guarantor, or your dad?

Tonker

You have explained it perfectly

yes,, he's mister Tonker
he's not a plonker
He's a honky tonker Haydock motherfonker
He's a winner and a sinner
I'm glad he's spitting out my shed
and not to inner,,,

In that situation, Tonker, yes, it would be my dad.
The situation with Serco is a totally different proposition.

Serco are not guarantors for the immigrants.
Serco then become the tenants, not landlords ( with a block booking in the name of Serco ) in the hotel rooms. They don't need a guarantor as in a lot of cases they will pay the rent up front in advance. Should they decide not to pay up front, I'm sure a quick glance at their finanacial income accounts will suffice!

At the end of the day, it is the home office who foot this exorbitant bill out of our income tax pot

"Serco are not guarantors for the immigrants."

Yes, you're right. They're not. They are guarantors for the contract.

"Serco then become the tenants, not landlords"

No. Serco are neither tenants or landlords.
The immigrants are the tenants.
Serco are the contracted agents acting on behalf of a government department.

An empty hotel room doesn't have a tenant, but can still be held by Serco, as well as other agencies on contract to the government!

Posted by: tonker (29700)
"No. Serco are neither tenants or landlords."

I beg to differ, Tonker.

"Serco acts as a tenant when providing accommodation for asylum seekers. They lease properties from landlords, investors, and agents to house asylum seekers who are awaiting processing of their claims. This arrangement is a key part of their service provision, where they handle the accommodation, transportation, and subsistence payments for these individuals. "

From here.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2025/05/migrant-housing-scheme-propertymark-tells-agents-to-be-careful/#:~:text=A%20Serco%20website%20headlined%20Calling%20All%20Landlords,agents%20with%20Serco%20acting%20as%20a%20Tenant.

"Serco acts as a managing agent in a corporate leasing arrangement for properties, meaning they hold leases on properties but are not the tenants themselves. They oversee a portfolio of properties from various landlords, with Serco acting as the tenant. This model is used to streamline property management and reduce costs for the government".

There we have it. They are and they are not, depending on which way you look at it.