While they were campaigning in Edinburgh, candidates for Reform UK said that Edinburgh Council is going to house male refugees in a development on Lasswade Road.
But it seems the party has got it wrong.
The City of Edinburgh Council said that the site will not be used to house people awaiting a decision on their asylum status – which is in any case a matter for the Home Office. The local authority has confirmed it will be used to house “people experiencing homelessness”.
The building in Gilmerton, built on the site of the former Northfield House Hotel, consists of 100 flats which Reform said they understood would be used to house homeless people, including people who have been recently granted asylum. But the council explained that the building was originally student flats, and they intended to change the use to temporary housing for 100 households who are experiencing, or who have experienced, homelessness.
A further “large house” at the Lasswade Road site will also be converted and used for temporary accommodation.
The party claimed that the SNP’s decision in 2022 to remove the criterion “local connection” from housing applications, means that anyone granted asylum can apply for social accommodation anywhere in Scotland – which is often at the cost of people with strong links to the area.
Local candidate, Charles Turner, was outside the building on Wednesday afternoon on the campaign trail accompanied by several activists.
Mr Turner said he understands this is a redeveloped building which is now going to be housing asylum seekers and refugees. He was not definite, but repeated that this was his “understanding”.
He said: “Scotland is a welcoming country. I am a welcoming person, being a second generation immigrant myself. My parents came over in the sixties. So I have nothing against that, but one, we need to look after our own. We have 40,000 people in temporary housing, 10,000 children in temporary accommodation. We should be looking out for them first.
“The second point is that this is a national security issue, and we need to make sure that these people – we don’t know who they are.
“I am standing in Edinburgh Southern. I want to be sure that the people of Edinburgh are safe.” He suggested that everyone “here” would already have a digital footprint. He continued: “The ones who come from – I don’t know where they come from – could be Eastern Europe or Asia or Africa – they have no footprint here, so we don’t know who they are.”
Thomas Kerr
Cllr Kerr also claimed the building will be used for refugees. He said: “There’s a big issue right across Scotland, not just here in Edinburgh, and the fact the SNP got rid of the local connection rule when it comes to housing. That still exists in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which means that if you have a local connection to a community, you’re granted first place when it comes to homelessness accommodation, or prioritising social housing.
“That doesn’t exist here in Scotland. So people are coming up and jumping the queue after they’ve been granted leave to remain. Almost 6,000 people here in Edinburgh are currently homeless. 3,600 children are currently in temporary accommodation. I think we need to prioritize local people first, rather than people who are coming here and jumping
queues.”
Challenged on whether Reform UK want any immigrants at all, Mr Kerr said they did – but he said they want legal migrants.
He said: “We want people coming here who are playing by the rules and who are giving something back to our country. What we don’t want is people crossing the English Channel illegally then using the Home Office rules to try and get leave to remain, and then jumping queues when it comes to homeless applications and getting homeless temporary accommodation. I don’t think that’s right. I just don’t think it’s fair.”
Daniel Johnson
Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour candidate in Edinburgh Southern said he was not absolutely clear when the council began developing the site whether it was their original plan to use the building for student housing or alternatively as a place for asylum seekers, (whatever stage of the process they are at).
He said: “I think what the council is doing is trying to take direct action to alleviate the homelessness problem that we have in Edinburgh – which is around 6,000 people.
“This is an important step towards that, but I think clearly local people have serious concerns and reservations and those need to be answered. I think one of those is actually what will be the background and profile of the people that will be housed there. At this point in time, that is not 100% clear.
“We need to look at who the homeless population in Edinburgh is, first of all, to make sure that if this is an interim solution towards that, that it addresses it.
“And the reality is that will be a broad range of different things. I want clarity from the council on who these people might be, and actually a bigger concern really – it’s not where people come from, it’s what they’re doing.
“It’s things like, the proportion that will be in work, for example, and there’s also sort of questions around the makeup by gender.
“The council just seem to be suggesting there will be support services. Well, what does that look like? And critically, if people, break the rules, what happens? There is apparently an antisocial behaviour policy. When I went to the drop-in, I was told that that they had that, but didn’t have it at hand.”
Mr Johnson continued: “Critically there is also a question over what assurances can you give local residents that if anything untoward happens, that there will be effective action.”
He also mentioned that there are 100 units in the building, but whether that means 100 people or 100 households is unclear. Mr Johnson was keen for the number to be kept under review.
On 29 April 2026, Mr Johnson and Ian Murray, MP for Edinburgh South, sent a joint letter to The City of Edinburgh Council asking questions about the development and who will live there, including whether any proposed residents will be former prisoners.
The letter is below:
The council has confirmed the people who will live in the building will pay rent to live there temporarily until such time as they can secure permanent accommodation. They have also confirmed that there will be a management team in place to run the property, with staff on site 24/7.
Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Convener, Cllr Tim Pogson, said: “There is a severe housing shortage in Edinburgh, which is why we declared a Housing Emergency in 2023 and are committed to delivering more affordable homes and expanding our provision of temporary accommodation for those waiting to be housed.
“We’re investing £1.6 billion in housing, including £580 million to improve and increase suitable temporary accommodation, across the city.
“On Lasswade Road, the new accommodation unit will provide temporary housing for people without a permanent home. Everyone placed there will have presented as homeless in Edinburgh, received a full homeless assessment, and are entitled to Council services and support.
“We already operate temporary accommodation in communities across the city, which are staffed 24/7 and managed well within the community.
“There is no presumption about who will be housed at the site beyond their legal entitlement to assistance as homeless applicants in Edinburgh.”
