A SCOTTISH council has hit out at “entirely false” media claims that asylum seekers were being prioritised for housing.
Edinburgh Council on Tuesday issued a statement rejecting the “misinformation” – stating that it does not even house asylum seekers as their accommodation is managed by the UK Government’s Home Office.
It comes after The Telegraph last week reported that asylum seekers who had their applications to remain in the UK accepted (meaning they become newly recognised refugees) were effectively being given priority for council housing.
Once a person has their asylum application accepted, they can lose their Home Office-provided accommodation and become homeless. Homeless people, disabled people, and those at risk of violence are treated as higher priority for social housing than ordinary applicants, many of whom have had their requests paused due to a backlog in the higher-priority groups.
At the time, Scottish Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said it was false to claim refugees were being prioritised.
“Scotland has some of the strongest homelessness rights in the world, and we will not roll these back,” she added. “The Home Office must properly fund its asylum processes and ensure newly recognised refugees and communities can be supported.”
The story was nevertheless shared by Reform UK, which claimed that Edinburgh Council was “prioritising illegal migrants over British people on social housing lists”.
Refugees given council housing are not “illegal migrants”, but have had their asylum application recognised as legal and valid.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 Labour is prioritising illegal migrants over British people on social housing lists. Reform UK will put an end to this injustice. British council houses for British people.https://t.co/lnW5WmxBOw
— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) August 27, 2026
Reform UK’s deputy leader in Scotland, Thomas Kerr, also shared the story, writing: “Edinburgh City Council has been prioritising strangers for housing over local people. Fact.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Edinburgh Council said: “Last week, an article in the media and subsequent posts on social media channels, inaccurately reported details about how we prioritise and allocate council housing.
“It is important that we address misinformation and set out the facts.”
The local authority went on: “We cannot house asylum seekers. This is a matter managed by the Home Office, not the council.
“People who have been assessed and granted ‘Leave to Remain’ status by the Home Office have legal rights to services including access to housing and other public services. They are afforded the same process, support and respect as every other applicant.
“It is entirely false to say people in this position have been prioritised for housing.
“We provide advice and assistance to any individual or household who declares themself homeless and this can, but does not always, include the provision of accommodation.”
Edinburgh Council further said that to “address the housing emergency in Edinburgh and to reduce the number of people staying in unsuitable temporary accommodation, we temporarily paused the letting of council homes and accelerated our work to bring empty council housing back into use”.
“This has allowed us to prioritise temporary housing for people assessed as legally homeless and to reduce the number of people staying in unsuitable accommodation in accordance with Scottish and UK housing legislation.
“This does not mean that people in this position have a permanent council house.”
