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Homeless EU migrants build their own “affordable homes” on London canal bank (2 October 2014)

Date: 02/10/2014
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Homeless EU migrants build their own “affordable homes” on London canal bank

Residents in Edmonton, north London are said to be upset by a “shanty town” set up by homeless migrants on the banks of the Regents Canal.

London publication Metro reports that around 30 homeless migrants from Romania have used discarded pallets and wood from a local copse to built makeshift homes on the banks of the canal.

The camp in the woods has developed over the last year – and provides homes to migrants on a site next to Lee Park Way canal, which is owned by Transport for London (TfL).

Migrants from Romania are legally allowed to come to the UK to settle and work – however, the government tightened up restrictions on migrants new to Britain claiming welfare benefits just before the border restriction on Romania and Bulgaria were lifted on 1 January.

Migrants now have to wait for three months before becoming eligible for benefits – and can only claim for up to six months unless they have a realistic chance of securing employment.

The UK is currently thought to owe as much as £10 million in out-of-work benefits to migrants from Eastern European countries who have worked and paid National Insurance in the UK, but have returned to their home country and not been able to find work again.

Benefit entitlements start if an employee has worked for the minimum wage –
the equivalent of working 24 hours a week for £150.

Police in Edmonton says that the makeshift housing built in Edmonton has attracted complaints from residents and businesses about intimidation and anti-social behaviour in the camps, discarded refuse and local wildlife being affected.

Some residents said they had been in the UK for three months and spent their day trying to secure employment at a local retail park, but were leaving the UK by Christmas.

TfL is reported to be working with local police to evict those living at the camp, however.

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