Masked thugs target Salford homes suspected of housing asylum seekers

Ordinary families are being caught up in a terrifying wave of anti-HMO attacks on homes suspected of housing asylum seekers.

Masked thugs have smashed windows, vandalised cars and daubed 'No HMO' graffiti across houses in Salford, Greater Manchester - with the crime spree reportedly forcing at least one family from their home.

In one shocking incident, a black father appears to have been racially profiled by vandals who attacked his property - despite him having lived there peacefully for nine years.

Elsewhere, elderly residents have been left living next to boarded-up properties, while a severed pig's head was reportedly dumped outside another vandalised building.

Police and council chiefs have vowed to crack down on the suspected racist attacks, which have struck the working-class area of Salford.

Greater Manchester Police is investigating 46 reports of criminal damage since October 5, with most incidents taking place in Salford, largely at night.

Local councillors have condemned the violence, while Salford City Council has warned about misinformation spreading on social media.

Far-right activists have posted videos identifying addresses they claim are being used to house migrants, with some properties featured in the footage subsequently targeted by vandals.

But some homes have been wrongly identified as HMOs, with ordinary families caught up in the attacks.

The violence comes amid wider tensions over asylum accommodation following months of anti-immigration demonstrations across Britain, including protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers.

On Wednesday night (October 21), firefighters tackled a blaze at a former sheltered housing complex in Leverington, Cambridgeshire, which had been earmarked for accommodation providing 26 bedspaces for asylum-seeking mothers and babies.

In Salford, one of the victims is a 56-year-old father whose home was wrongly targeted despite not being a house in multiple occupation (HMO) at all.

The man, who asked not to be named, was asleep when his son came into his room at around 7.30pm on October 13.

His home in Little Hulton had been targeted, with a brick hurled through the living room window and 'No HMO' scrawled across the glass, now concealed by plywood.

The man, who is black, has lived there for nine years with his four grown-up children, three of whom work and one who is at university.

He said: "This is not a HMO. I've lived here for nine years.

"I was asleep when it happened. My son came into the room and said, dad, some guys are smashing our windows.

"I didn't even know the meaning of 'HMO', I've never seen that before. It was a shock."

A neighbour reportedly saw two men on a bike, who had disappeared before the father got outside.

He added: "I wasn't myself for five days after. I've never experienced anything like that.

"I have no problems with anyone. I just go to work and come back.

"It does change the way I feel about the area. I'm scared now.

"If I hear any noise, I feel like I'm not safe."

The father, who has worked in the area for a decade, said: "I work and my sons work, we pay tax here.

"If you see a black person or a foreigner and suspect he is illegal, why don't you call the police?

"Don't take it into your own hands."

Just a few miles away, 85-year-old Kathleen Bradbury has been left living next door to a boarded-up property following another attack.

The pensioner, who has lived in her home on Albert Park Road in Lower Broughton for 48 years, said she was disgusted by the vandalism.

She said: "It only happened about two weeks ago. I didn't even know what a HMO was."

Describing the damage on her doorstep, she added: "It's disgusting. I just keep myself inside. It's not very nice.

"I've been here for 48 years. It's not nice to do what they [attackers] have done. But they've done it to a few houses."

Ms Bradbury, who lives in a three-storey housing association property, said she had been trying to find somewhere smaller to live.

She also lamented how her once pleasant neighbourhood had changed over the decades.

She said: "It has changed in that time. We used to have a bandstand in the park opposite and a little lake. It used to be lovely here."

HMOs are shared rented properties which can house students, young professionals and other working adults.

Salford was estimated to have more than 3,000 HMOs in 2024/25 according to government housing figures.

The council has introduced tougher planning rules to prevent them becoming too concentrated, with new HMOs normally refused if they would mean more than one in 10 homes within a 100m radius were shared properties.

At a parade of shops in Kersal, workers said thugs had spray-painted a property and left a severed pig's head outside.

One worker said he understood the attack happened after 9pm. Another said tensions had since eased.

On Shirley Avenue in Kersal, the words 'No HMO' were scrawled in black paint across a white front door.

Paint covered other parts of the house and two front windows had been completely smashed.

Neighbours said the property was currently empty and that attacks in the area tended to happen at night.

Nearby, a delivery worker who lives in the area said: "It's a very diverse area, it's a multicultural area.

"When something like that happens, it's not very nice. It's mostly families here."

But Mandy, 64, who has lived in Kersal for 54 years, expressed anger over HMOs appearing in her neighbourhood.

She claimed, without offering evidence, that asylum seekers received free goods and services, adding: "I can't even afford to have the heating on because it's so expensive."

Asked whether she was worried about the attacks, she said: "It's not my problem. I've got my own problems."

Witnesses have also reported seeing masked youngsters on bicycles near attacks.

Three men have been arrested this week as detectives probe whether adults are exploiting children to carry out the vandalism.

On Wednesday (October 21), police arrested a 33-year-old man in Salford on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage.

Two men, aged 46 and 39, arrested on Monday (October 19), have since been bailed.

A 13-year-old boy, arrested earlier on suspicion of criminal damage, was also released on police bail.

Officers believe children may be being exploited to carry out the offences and have previously said most reports were being treated as racially or religiously motivated.

Chief Superintendent Marcus Noden said: "I want to reiterate that we are taking this spate of damage extremely seriously and are continuing to relentlessly target offenders, including those who we believe are using and exploiting children to orchestrate the criminality."

Cllr Barbara Bentham, Salford council's community safety lead, said: "There is no place for criminal damage, especially when that damage is caused to someone's home.

"This is absolutely unacceptable as everyone in Salford has the right to feel safe in their own home."

A council spokesperson said: "We are aware of misinformation being spread on social media around Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) - we have been working with our landlords and an updated mythbusting fact sheet on our website."

Anyone with information is urged to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.