Out of his depth. Rob Kenyon of Reform UK.

 

Rob Kenyon, the Reform UK candidate for Makerfield, was clearly out of his depth when he appeared on Question Time. He didn't seem to be that much interested in politics or have much of an idea. I think he was right about how immigration whether legal or illegal does have an impact on public services and resources.

The fundamental problem that UK faces in relation to housing is one of supply and demand. The population of the UK has risen by around 9 million in the last 20 years, largely as a result of immigration, and housing supply has not kept up. Housing is more expensive today than at any time in the last 18 years.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS), deems property affordable if it cost less than 5x average earnings. In 2025 only 7% of local authorities in England and Wales - 23 out of 318 - met this criterion. This has fallen from 9% in 2015 and 11% in 2005. Obtaining a mortgage has become harder as a result of restrictions on lending put in place after the financial crises. First time buyers now need to provide a 5% deposit.

Home ownership rates for the under 35s have halved in the last 30 years. Outside of London property prices have kept on rising. The Right to Buy Scheme took a lot of rented social housing out of the system.

I think it's misleading to blame the UK housing crisis entirely on immigrants. If there wasn't an issue with immigration, I'm not convinced that this would solve the housing crises. I know that forty years ago in the area where I live, it wasn't easy to get rented council housing and there was no problem with boat people or illegal immigrants.

If you discount immigration, the population of the UK is actually falling because the indigenous population are having fewer babies. This can cause demographic problems in the sense that there's a smaller working age population paying income tax to support a non-working age elderly population. Therefore, a certain amount of immigration becomes necessary to get the extra workers and to fill the skills shortages.