Commenting, Alp Mehmet, Vice Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “This is a hopeless underestimate. The ONS are projecting annual net migration 25% lower than seen in the last ten years. Their high migration scenario is much more plausible and in line with the previous decade’s flows. That would mean a new home every three minutes for England as a whole, of which about half would be for migrants.”
Note to editors
- The ONS says that the number of households in England is projected to increase by 4 million (17%) over the next 25 years, from 22.9 million in 2016 to 26.9 million in 2041. This equates to 159,000 additional households each year on their principal projection (based on net migration to England of 152,000 per year).
- Their ‘zero migration’ scenario foresees a total rise in households of 2.52 million over the period 2016-2041, while the high migration scenario (based on net migration to England of 214,500) foresees a total rise of 4.74 million (a difference of 2.22 million, or 88,800 households per year as the result of the arrival of migrants).
- The high migration scenario is a more appropriate measure because net migration to England has averaged 208,000 per year over the past decade and was 218,000 in 2016.
- The 88,800 homes per year that are projected to be due to immigration alone between 2016 and 2041 are equivalent of 243 per day, or one new home every six minutes.
- 90% of the additional households created in England 2005-2014 were headed by a person born outside the UK, according to previous ONS figures.
See the ONS bulletin.