Aerial photo of Middlesbrough (Image: Getty)
The North Yorkshire town of Middlesbrough , with more new arrivals flocking there per head
The Teesside town saw 6,800 people move in in 2023. The town’s population is just 150,000, meaning that of everyone that lives there 4.4 percent are migrants.
“This area is overrun with people coming in and I heard that a lot of houses around here are being done up to move people up from London”, one disgruntled north-east local told .
Another resident, retired scaffolder Peter Honeyman, 73, told the outlet: “Property is cheaper and they are building more houses in the town centre where immigrants are being housed.
“Middlesbrough is lacking in opportunity as it is anyway so it could affect younger people moving forward.”
A man walks through Middlesbrough town centre (Image: Getty)
The town’s popularity my be down to its cheap property prices and its proximity to top universities.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average Middlesbrough house price is £150,000. In comparison, the average property price in the capital is a staggering £686,298, according to Rightmove.
One resident, Dennis Jones, originally from Ramsgate, Kent, told the Mail he had moved up to Middlesbrough due to inexpensive accomodation.
The 66-year-old former tree surgeon told the outlet: “A definite factor in why Middlesbrough’s numbers are so high is because the rents are cheap.”
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A woman walks past a boarded up Debenhams (Image: Getty)
Another reason immigrants may be attracted to Middlesbrough is for access to education. According to ONS figures, studying is the second-most common reason people migrate to Britain, after working.
Middlesbrough is surrounded by top universities. Teesside University is based in Middlesbrough itself, while the prestigious Durham University is a short drive away.
Further afield are the top institutions York, found to the south of Middlesbrough, and Newcastle, found to the north.