Residents in quiet cul-de-sac fume that Labour's plan to move migrants into local bungalow leaves them too scared to let children out to play

Susanna Siddell
Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:56:11 +0000

Residents in a quiet cul-de-sac have been left fuming that Labour's plan to move migrants into a bungalow.

Locals in the Kent suburb of Walderslade have raised safeguarding concerns after Home Office contractor Clearsprings snapped up a long lease on the property.

After Labour announced its bid to close all 200 asylum hotels across Britain by 2029, questions have been raised about where 30,000 migrants will live while they wait for their claims to be processed.

Residents in the Garden of England have already voiced their concerns over migrants moving into neighbouring HMOs under Labour's "dispersal" scheme.

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Several Walderslade grandmothers have spoken out against the plans, with one claiming she was "just so upset".

"The grandchildren have played in the street, but that's not going to happen any more," Sara Ryder, 59, told the Daily Mail.

"We reckon when the migrants arrive, they'll be dropped off in the middle of the night," she speculated.

On another cul-de-sac with housing purchased by Clearsprings, a 74-year-old widow said that she was worried for her two teenage granddaughters.

"I won't feel safe with them coming round anymore," she admitted.

The properties will add to two houses on Montfort Road that have been converted by Clearsprings Ready Homes.

The sites lie just a seven-minute walk away from the local playground and just under 20 minutes from the nearest primary school.

Each dwelling is expected to house six young migrants, understood to be aged between 17 and 20.

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Meanwhile, another Walderslade local, who has lived in the community for more than two decades, said there were "more suitable places" nearby, like central Chatham.

She said: "What are they going to do here? They're men, and I'm worried they're going to hang around, check us out and make us feel uncomfortable.

"Would the people who have set this scheme up like them to live next door to them?"

However, speaking to GB News earlier this year, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would personally live next door to a migrant camp.

The Home Secretary claimed she would live next to an army camp housing illegal migrants "if that was part of the solution" to tackle the migrant crisis offered by Labour.

She made the remarks after fury engulfed the leafy market town of Crowborough – ever since Labour announced it would house more than 500 male migrants in the former army training camp in East Sussex last November.

Protesters, including the Pink Ladies, have rallied the masses to fight the move, claiming that it poses a risk to local women and girls.

Last week, the group led a demonstration outside the Home Office, later delivering a letter to Downing Street for clarity on their future plans.