Suella Braverman tears into ‘outrageous’ plans to house asylum seekers in luxury flats in her constituency: ‘It’s infuriating!’

Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has urged Fareham Borough Council to “do the right thing” and block plans to house asylum seekers in a luxury £7million apartment building.

Wates House, located in her constituency of Fareham, could soon be housing “single young men” according to Braverman, and locals have been left “scared and furious”.

Speaking to GB News, Braverman hit out at the plans, branding them “infuriating”, noting that the property is of “good quality” and is “in the heart” of Fareham.

Braverman explained to host Martin Daubney: “It is outrageous. I’ve been speaking to local residents just today who are furious. They’re scared, and they feel very let down by this proposal, which is on the table at the moment.

“This is a very good quality property in the heart of Fareham and quite a historic part of the town and a conservation area. There’s a lot of elderly people who live locally near a school, very residential area and the prospect of frankly single young men who are asylum seekers staying here, at the behest of the taxpayer, really is infuriating.”

In a plea to the local council to purchase the building in order to offer local residents housing over asylum seekers, Braverman stressed that there are “over a thousand people” on the waiting list for housing in her constituency.

Braverman said: “We have over a thousand people locally on our housing waiting list here in Fareham, and that’s why I’m urging Fareham Borough Council to do the right thing.

“They have the opportunity to purchase this property or to lease it and to use it for local housing needs. That’s what local people want and it’s what I’m urging them to do.”

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Voicing the concerns of locals, Braverman told GB News that there are planned protests against the decision, claiming that they want the local council to “step in” and “save the building” from asylum seeker occupation.

Braverman said: “Thousands of people have spoken already very loudly about their views. They want the local council, who I know work very hard and are doing generally a very good job, but they want the local council to step in and save this property from the asylum seekers.

“And if the council were to do that and negotiate constructively with the owner of the property, then the Home Office, having run the Home Office, I do know how it operates, the Home Office would withdraw from the process.”

Hitting out at the local authorities, Braverman suggested that if the local council “believed that local people should come first”, then they would go ahead with purchasing the property and taking the opportunity away from the home office.

Braverman stated: “If the council believed that local people should come first, that local housing needs should come first, then they should buy or lease this property. They can afford it.

“And there are lots of assurances that have been made, the property has been inspected rigorously, it is structurally sound, it is safe, it is passable. It can be occupied tomorrow.”

She added: “And I think that there is a very clear pathway to resolving this situation. And I very much hope that the borough council does the right thing by local people as well.”

Simon Martin, leader of Fareham Borough Council, said the authority previously considered purchasing the flats in early 2024 but “withdrew from the deal due to a number of reasons, including grounds of safety and construction quality”.

He claimed: “Since the renewed interest from the Home Office we have again assessed the situation, however the cost of spending a very significant amount of money cannot be justified.”