The Entitlement Myth: Born Here Doesn’t Mean Owed Everything

How British entitlement, government failure, and a lack of perspective have created a culture of resentment that blames the vulnerable instead of the powerful.

By Sean Ash

We’ve all heard it: “Why do they get a house and we don’t?” It’s the loudest cry in communities up and down the country when people see asylum seekers temporarily housed in hotels. But the truth is far more complex and far less convenient for those who want someone else to blame. This article isn’t here to excuse failure. It’s here to point the finger at the right target: the government, not the people surviving its failures.

Let’s talk numbers. Since 2022, the UK has committed over £18 billion to Ukraine in military, humanitarian, and financial aid. The government has also signed a £3.4 billion sovereignty deal with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands. Meanwhile, £129 million has been pledged for aid to Gaza, and we continue to increase defence spending toward 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027.

Now compare that to the cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels. The most recent figures put that cost at just over £8 million per day, or approximately £2.9 billion per year. Yes, that’s a lot, but still a fraction of what we are happy to find for war, missiles, and geopolitics. So let’s stop pretending we can’t afford help. What we lack is not money. It’s political will and moral consistency.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth. Many people in Britain believe that being born here entitles them to free housing above all others. But social housing has never been about where you’re born. It’s about need. And there’s a huge difference between being in need and feeling entitled.

If you’re British and struggling, more often than not you have some kind of safety net, a family member, a sofa to sleep on, a friend who can put you up. You may not want to rely on them, but you can. Many asylum seekers have no one. They’ve fled war zones, persecution, torture. They don’t get to choose their city, their room, or their life here. They’re placed where they’re told, often in poor conditions. That’s not luxury. That’s survival.

What’s more, many British citizens who do claim housing support aren’t always in emergency need. They’re often seeking cheaper rent. And even then, some of them still don’t work, despite being able to. I say that not to shame, but to highlight the hypocrisy of complaining about asylum seekers while relying on the same government safety net, if not more.

And let’s be honest. While some people in this country feel entitled to housing simply because they were born here, there are also millions of hard-working British people who have earned their homes through years of effort. They’ve worked hard, paid their way, and built a life without expecting something for nothing. That should be respected. But the entitlement culture we’re talking about here is something very different. It’s a mindset that says, “I shouldn’t have to work. I’m owed a home. I’ll go to the council with a suitcase and they’ll have to give me one.” That approach is disingenuous, and it disrespects every person in this country who has genuinely struggled and built themselves up without expecting the system to hand it to them.

Yes, there are British people in genuine need. Yes, many of them deserve and receive the help they need, and that help should always be there. But let’s not pretend there aren’t also people who present themselves as homeless not because they have nowhere to go, but because they want cheap rent, and even then they don’t want to pay for it. That is not the same as need. That is opportunism, and it’s time we started being honest about the difference.

I say this as someone who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. I’ve had every reason to give up. But I haven’t. I’ve worked. I’ve self-published books. I’ve released music. I’m developing new AI tools. I’ve raised tens of thousands of pounds for the NHS. I’ve even been placed in hotels myself during homelessness. So when people say we get nothing, I know from experience that isn’t true.

I also know that many of the people shouting about asylum seekers all day online haven’t contributed half as much to society as the very people they attack. They just shout louder. Maybe that’s what this is really about. Fear of being outworked, outmatched, outshined by people who arrived with nothing.

Let’s be clear. The housing crisis wasn’t caused by asylum seekers. It was caused by governments who chose not to build. They cut council budgets. They sold off council homes. They let private rents soar. And now they want you to believe the problem is a mother fleeing Syria or a child escaping conscription in Eritrea.

If anything, the government has done far more to weaponise immigration than manage it. And now they’re cutting disability benefits and winter fuel payments while still finding billions for bombs and border deals. That should tell you everything.

This country has money. What it lacks is justice, vision, and leadership. So next time someone asks why an asylum seeker got help, maybe ask them what they’ve done with their own opportunity. And if you’re still blaming the poor while the powerful prosper, you’ve already missed the real invasion, the one that took your housing, your services, and your future. And it didn’t come in a boat. It came in a suit.