Residents of a Shropshire village have vowed to fight plans to house more than 80 asylum-seeking families on a newly built housing estate, warning the move will overwhelm local services and fundamentally change their community.
The controversy centres on a development of 21 new-build homes in Stoke Heath, where locals say they were originally led to believe the properties would be allocated as social housing for local families.
Instead, the estate is now expected to accommodate up to 121 asylum seekers, prompting anger among residents who claim there has been little consultation and no transparency over the decision.
The development has already been dubbed “Migrant Street” by some locals, with concerns escalating over the potential impact on schools, healthcare and other public services.
Emma O’Sullivan, a mother of three, said residents felt they had been misled.
We were told that the new development would be social houses, which was fine, but no one moved in for a year,” she said.
Now we’re told they will be used for asylum seekers and they’re not part of the social housing at all. We feel like we’ve been lied to.”
She added that her concerns centred on the scale of the proposed arrivals rather than the individuals themselves.
“It’ll overload the infrastructure,” she said.
In Stoke Heath near Telford, a new build of affordable homes 🏡 will mainly go to asylum seekers.
It has been objected by the local MP and Councillor @Donna_Rachel_ .
It's part of Tory @michaelgove's £500 million of taxpayer's money 💰 allocated purely for migrant housing. pic.twitter.com/FWWvoHWDWF
— David Atherton (@daveatherton) June 29, 2026
Other residents expressed similar fears.
Kevin Plews told the BBC that the issue was not the principle of housing asylum seekers but the number expected to move into the village.
“If there were just four families coming here it wouldn’t be a problem, but there’s 121 people coming,” he said.
Samantha Waters described herself as “absolutely terrified”, saying she feared for the safety of residents and children living on the estate.
Others questioned why newly built homes, estimated to be worth around £250,000 each, were not being made available to local people struggling to get onto the housing ladder.
The dispute has now reached Westminster.
Conservative MP Mark Pritchard has urged Immigration Minister Alex Norris to meet him over the proposals, accusing officials of keeping residents in the dark.
“People are being kept in the dark. There has been secrecy — no consultation and no transparency. People have a right to know what is going on,” he told the House of Commons.
Mr Pritchard has previously warned ministers that the proposal would increase Stoke Heath’s population by around 35 per cent within a matter of weeks.
Shropshire Council has also written to the Home Secretary expressing what it described as its “strong concerns” over the location while awaiting a formal response before deciding on any further action.
Serco, which manages asylum accommodation in the region, said it operates under the direction of the Home Office, which decides where asylum seekers are housed according to national demand.
A Home Office spokesperson said the Government was reducing reliance on asylum hotels by accelerating asylum decisions, increasing removals and expanding alternative accommodation.
The department said it continues to work closely with local authorities as it seeks to reduce pressure on communities while reforming the asylum system.
The proposed move has become the latest flashpoint in the increasingly contentious national debate over asylum accommodation, balancing the Government’s legal obligation to house asylum seekers against growing concerns from communities over capacity, infrastructure and local consultation.
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