Nearly HALF of all social housing in London is occupied by foreigners costing taxpayers more than £3.6bn per year

These households receive an average discount of approximately £11,600 annually compared to private rental costs in the capital.

With nearly half of all social housing allocated to foreign-born lead residents, the total cost to taxpayers exceeds £3.5billion per year.

The data only accounts for household reference persons, not other occupants within the properties.

The £3.6billion figure came from Telegraph analysis of London’s "general needs" social housing stock with both local authority and private registered providers plus median private sector rents for properties with equivalent numbers of bedrooms.

The analysis suggested that socially rented properties were approximately £11,992 cheaper per year in 2021.

When totalled across the city with the whole of the population, this suggests a total subsidy of approximately £7.7billion.

When taking into account the proportional share of households headed by foreign-born residents, the number amounts to roughly £3.6billion per year in total discounts.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick condemned the findings, stating: "This research shows how the huge costs of mass, low-skilled migration are often hidden from the public.

"When you lift up the bonnet, it's clear that the level and composition of immigration have been hugely economically harmful for decades."

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The figures reveal that 35 per cent of working-age foreign-born heads of households in London's social housing are either unemployed or economically inactive.

This is despite residing in one of Britain's most prosperous regions, where productivity per hour worked is approximately 26 per cent higher than the UK average.

Last year, the Office for Budget Responsibility found that low-paid migrant workers were costing taxpayers more than £150,000 each by retirement age.

However, analysis of the census data reveals that 68 per cent of the 376,700 foreign-born lead tenants actually hold British passports.

This amounts to 257,200 individuals who, despite being born abroad, are British citizens.

Labour MP for Burnley Oliver Ryan previously accused Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp of "race-baiting" for misconstruing the data.

Philp, the MP for Croydon South had posted on social media that 48 per cent of London's social accommodation is "occupied by people who are foreign and have likely paid little or no tax", declaring it "morally wrong" and stating "we can't be the social housing provider for the world."

The ONS data captures only lead tenants' birthplace, not their current nationality or citizenship status.

The proportion of social housing occupied by foreign-born lead tenants varies dramatically across London's 32 boroughs.

Brent and Westminster have the highest rates, with over 60 per cent of social housing allocated to foreign-born lead residents.

Separate data from the English Housing Survey suggests that there is significant variation between ethnic groups with regards to social housing use.

Roughly 48 per cent of Black Caribbean households, 40 per cent of Black African households, and 40 per cent of Bangladeshi households in England live in social housing, compared with 16 per cent of White British households, and five per cent of Chinese and Indian households.