The council along with Brighton and Hove, Hackney, Peterborough and Thanet have confirmed they are keen to take part in the Home Office Asylum Dispersal Pilot scheme to house asylum seekers in newly built council houses.
It is part of a government push to end the use of asylum hotels and private landlords.
Around 200 local authorities have indicated interest in the Government pilot scheme that would fund the building of new properties or the refurbishment of derelict housing to make room for asylum seekers.
Five councils – Brighton and Hove, Hackney, Peterborough, Thanet, and Powys – have confirmed they are keen to take part in the scheme.
However, the proposals are expected to spark fury among the public, many of whom are sitting on long waiting lists for council housing themselves.
Reform Group Powys County Councillor Claire Johnson-Wood, who appeared on GB News recently, said: “Currently, Powys County Council has over 3700 people on the housing waiting list, with some waiting years to be homed.
“There is absolutely no justification for the council to participate in this scheme.
Councillor James Gibson Watt
“Our housing should be for local residents first and with ever shrinking services, Powys does not have the infrastructure such as schools, GP practices and dentist appointments to support an influx of potentially 500 additional families.”
Official figures show there are 36,000 asylum seekers in hotels and around 71,000 in ‘dispersal’ accommodation in the private rented sector.
With a Home Office report identifying billions of pounds ‘squandered’ on asylum accommodation, some council leaders have insisted this scheme will provide savings for the taxpayer.
The cost of the contracts awarded to Serco, Clearsprings and Mears between 2019 and 2029, to lease hotels and landlords’ homes, has tripled from £4.5billion to £15.3billion, according to figures from the National Audit Office.
Powys County Council’s Cabinet discussed the matter in June, and Reform UK group leader Councillor Iain McIntosh was not allowed to oppose the plan to join the pilot scheme.
He was told there were no community specific implications for particular wards arising from the report, so he could not speak.
Labour Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for a Fairer Powys, Councillor Matthew Dorrance said the council would express an interest in taking part in the scheme along with neighbouring council’s Carmarthenshire and Monmouthshire.
He said the new scheme would give them greater control over the council accommodation that is used for the asylum seekers, including the “location and the support structure” put around the asylum seekers that are brought into Powys.
He added; “At the end of the 10 year period the homes we build using this external home office money will then become housing stock available to be used through the housing register.”
He said this would have no impact on those people already on the housing waiting list.
Former council leader and cabinet member for a more prosperous Powys, Councillor James Gibson-Watt (Liberal Democrat) welcomed the proposal.
He stressed that the UK under various treaties and conventions have an obligation to accommodate asylum seekers and process their claims in a “fair way.”
“I’m very enthusiastic that the council should participate in this,” said Cllr Gibson-Watt.
The Powys cabinet voted unanimously to express their interest in being part of the scheme.
A spokesperson for Powys County Council said the council’s position had not changed since Cabinet made the decision to express an interest in the scheme.
The Government has pledged £100million towards the scheme, with figures suggesting the funding would be able to deliver 900 new homes.
Under the programme, councils would be given the funds to purchase properties for asylum seeker accommodation, including in new housing developments where homes are struggling to find buyers.
Properties would then be leased back to the Home Office, and eventually added to the council’s stock of social housing.