Fury as refugees handed £300k town houses with electric car charging while locals struggle

Asylum seekers have been moved into luxury £300,000 town houses complete with en-suite bathrooms, electric vehicle charging points and underfloor heating - sparking outrage from local residents who say they've been kept in the dark.

The four privately owned, three-bedroom properties boast a rental value of £1,200 per month and have been leased to public service company Serco , which is working on behalf of the Home Office to house migrant families rent-free while their applications are processed reports The Sun.

The controversial move in a Suffolk village, which we are not naming for security reasons, was quietly announced last week with a councillor claiming the community had responded "very positively". The news cpomes just days after judges overturned the explosive Epping hotel asylum ruling.

Locals demand answers

But furious villagers have hit back, demanding to know why struggling local families weren't offered the premium properties first - and blasting officials for keeping them completely in the dark about the plan.

The move comes as Labour pushes ahead with its pledge to close expensive asylum hotels and relocate migrants into private housing across the country.

Gardener Clive Bloomfield, 62, who has lived in the village his entire life, told The Sun: "It's all just happened without us knowing about it. Our opinions don't seem to count.

"There's people working hard to try to get on the property ladder and they're not considered."

His wife Susan, 64, added her fury at the arrangement, saying: "We're paying for all of this. Why are we working hard for asylum seekers to just get everything for free?"

Community split

Mother-of-two and customer adviser Laura Garland, 40, revealed the move had caused uproar throughout the close-knit community.

She said: "There are people born in this country that pay taxes who can't get housing.

"Then you get these families who are put straight into brand new three-bedroom houses. The worst thing is - none of us knew. We've been kept in the dark."

Local joiner Dylan Keseru, 26, expressed his disbelief at seeing the national housing crisis arrive on his doorstep.

"You hear the news and think this is in the towns and cities. But now it is hitting home it's right next door. There's a lot of teenagers in the village who might like the opportunity to buy a place here, so for housing like that to be let out to asylum seekers - paid for by taxpayers - is unbelievable," he said.

Ricky Morgan, 68, who moved from Walthamstow, North East London, just a year ago, launched a scathing attack on the Government for "giving migrants everything for free".

Some offer support

However, not all residents opposed the new arrivals. Lizzie Simmonds revealed her mother and other villagers have been providing basic necessities to help the families settle in.

Lizzie told The Sun: "If people need to come here, let them.

"Let them have the opportunities that they weren't given before. There's a reason they left."

At least one migrant family is understood to have already moved into the luxury accommodation. They are believed to have arrived through legal routes rather than by small boat, before making asylum applications when their visas expired.

Housing crisis

The controversy comes against a backdrop of severe housing shortages across the region. The Suffolk council's latest figures reveal almost 800 people were on waiting lists to bid for council or housing association properties last year alone.

Nationally, the scale of the asylum accommodation crisis is staggering. By July, more than 106,000 people in the UK were receiving asylum support. Of those, 32,000 were housed in expensive hotels, while 70,000 were placed in other accommodation including private dwellings and houses in multiple occupation.

Earlier this year, it emerged that Serco was offering private landlords attractive five-year guaranteed rental deals to house migrants. The comprehensive packages included free property management, full repair and maintenance services, plus coverage of all utility bills.

Government defence

The Labour government has made a manifesto commitment to close all asylum hotels as part of its overhaul of the immigration system.

Last week, the Home Office celebrated winning an appeal over a High Court decision that had granted an interim injunction to Epping Forest District Council in Essex, blocking the use of The Bell Hotel for asylum seekers.

Yesterday, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defended the decision to keep The Bell open, arguing that closing it would have led to "lots of disruption" and left asylum seekers "on the streets".

Meanwhile, the Conservative opposition is planning to force a parliamentary vote on giving local authorities greater powers before properties can be allocated to asylum seekers in their areas.

Major announcement

Today, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to provide an update on the UK's returns agreement with France as part of the government's efforts to tackle illegal immigration.

She is also set to announce that the National Crime Agency successfully disrupted 347 criminal networks linked to illegal immigration over the past year - representing a significant 40 percent increase year-on-year.

The Home Office defended its approach, stating: "At its peak, less than two years ago, there were 400 asylum hotels in use at a cost of almost £9million a day.

"We have taken urgent action over the past year to fix that system, doubling the rate of asylum decision-making, and reducing the amount of money spent on asylum hotels by almost a billion pounds."

The Home Office insists it listens carefully to local concerns when identifying suitable sites for asylum accommodation.

Serco declined to comment reported The Sun.