Housing crisis will worsen with arrival of Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants, says Pickles

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities

Eric Pickles has said that an expected wave of immigration from Romania and Bulgaria will worsen the housing crisis.

This December, temporary curbs used to block immigration from the two EU states in 2005 to protect the British labour market come to an end.

Speaking to the BBC's Sunday Politics programme, the communities secretary admitted that he didn't know many people would move to Britain, saying, "The truth is I don't think anybody entirely knows the number that will come".

Mr Pickles added that he didn't want to start a "scare story" and that he hadn't spoken with the Home Office about the issue.

He said: "Given that we've got a housing shortage, any influx from Romania and Bulgaria is going to cause problems - it's going to cause problems, not just in terms of the housing market but also on social housing markets."

The UK is unable to extend the current curbs under EU law.