Seasonal workers on British farms being given 'unhealthy and dangerous' accommodation

An ITV News investigation has found workers on some farms are living in homes riddled with mould and dampness, Correspondent Peter Smith reports

Seasonal workers on British farms are being given substandard accommodation and "unacceptable" living conditions, an ITV News investigation has found.

Footage obtained in our investigation shows evidence of mould and dampness on the walls of an old, leaky caravan at one location in Essex.

The windows on the accommodation at Leabank Nursery are visibly in a state of disrepair, the furniture is stained, the heater doesn't work, and even the toilet is broken.

Seasonal workers from Central Asia came to the UK on six month visas to support the country's agricultural sector, and their job was to grow and pick aubergines.

But they were being charged £300 a month per person to live in the caravans they said were "unhealthy and dangerous" - with three workers having to share two beds.

"The caravan was disgusting and cold," Azamat Bekturov, a sesonal worker from Kazakhstan, told us.

He showed us footage from his caravan at Leabank Nurswery, and told us how he had to pay for it from the minimum wage job he was doing.

"There weren’t even enough beds - I had to sleep sitting on a chair," he said.

"Then they gave me an old sofa from the barn that smelled of cat urine. If we complained, they told us this is all that was available for us.

"Sometimes they were shouting at us, telling us to work faster, even though we were at the limit of our capabilities. The relationship felt like slaves."

The owner of Leabank Nursery has denied the allegations ITV News put to him.

Gregorio’s Produce told us, “We do accept that the caravans that were used may require refurbishment.”

“We do not at present intend to recruit seasonal workers again,” they added. “But if we do, we will ensure that decorative refurbishment takes place and any damp or mould issues are resolved.”

We also shared our findings with the labour provider for this farm, who told us the seasonal workers have since been transferred elsewhere - and they've reported the living and working conditions to the Home Office.

We took the findings to Epping Forest District Council who told us their last inspection on seasonal worker accommodation at Leabank Nursery had been six years ago, in 2018.

A council spokesperson told us, “We are concerned to receive your reports and thank you for bringing the issue to our attention. We are looking into it as a matter of urgency.

“As with all councils, we have capacity issues,” they added.

“There is always more we would like to do than our resources allow.”

The UK relies on seasonal workers coming to help grow and pick the fruit that finds its way onto our plates.

Some seasonal workers on UK farms are living in homes riddled with mould and dampness.

But the farm in Essex is not the only place we found concerns about accommodation.

In the northeast of Scotland, Castleton in Aberdeenshire is one of the country's biggest, most prestigious fruit farms.

Family run, it is owned by Ross and Anna Mitchell.

They've had a visit from royalty in recent years, and their company website boasts that you'll see their fruit on the shelves at major supermarkets such as Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Waitrose, and Lidl.

However, workers have told us about "overcrowding" in the static caravan accommodation provided to seasonal workers.

ITV News has obtained footage showing two people - sometimes strangers - sleeping almost side by side in small caravan bedrooms.

The workers tell us they do a physical job by day, and then they "must sleep in one position because there is barely room to move" for the six months they live on Castleton Farm.

There's also evidence of the furniture in the caravans being aged, in some cases clearly damaged.

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ITV News has also learned how a two-bedroom caravan at Castleton is being rented out for approximately £1,200 per month.

We checked and this is well above the going rate for two-bed accommodation in the area.

For context, a modern two-bedroom modern apartment is commonly listed at less than half that price in the nearest towns.

"There's no privacy - you lose your dignity living like this," one worker at Castleton told us under the condition of anonymity.

Despite paying such high rent already, these workers told they have also been threatened with a £100 fine if the caravan is deemed to be untidy and they say they face weekly inspections.

"We came here to do a job but this is not how we expected workers in Great Britain would be treated," the worker said.

"It feels like we are being discriminated against."

We can report that seasonal workers are not being given equal protections in law, and that is due to a legal loophole identified in our investigation.

Caravan accommodation housing this many people should normally require HMO licences, and would normally be subject to inspections by local authorities - but caravans for seasonal farm workers are specifically exempt for this.

We asked Aberdeenshire council when they had last inspected the caravans at Castleton Farm, and they told us this accommodation “would not typically be inspected by council officers.”

The local authority added, “The Health and Safety Executive has responsibility under the Health and Safety at Work Act for health and safety of seasonal worker accommodation the is on an agricultural premises.”

We contacted the Health and Safety Executive, who told us, “HSE has no powers to deal with living conditions such as overcrowding of accommodation.”

The power to create a change in the law for Scotland is devolved, so we showed our footage from Castleton to Scotland's First Minister who called it "deeply troubling".

"Those conditions look unacceptable," John Swinney said in response to the evidence we presented to him.

"Obviously the points you're putting to me about cost [of the caravan accommodation] are equally troubling as well." He added he will now look into closing the legal loophole, saying: "I will certainly explore that."

In a statement, Castleton Farm told us they try to avoid having strangers sharing bedrooms, and said, "Castleton Fruit Ltd is a family owned and run business.

"We have supplied the UK's major supermarkets for over 30 years. As part of this we are independently audited regularly, which includes an assessment of how we treat our workforce and our standard of accommodation; workers are randomly selected and interviewed as part of this process.

"Our business is wholly reliant on having a team of workers to carry out all the husbandry, harvesting and packing tasks involved with soft fruit. Without people to do this, we do not have a business.

"There is not a workforce available locally to carry out these tasks, so we must recruit from overseas and therefore have to attract workers by offering good living and working conditions.

"It makes good business sense for us to have workers choose to return to us the following year. Our returnee rate in 2024 from 2023 is 73% which I feel speaks for itself."

Castleton Farm adds that they are "replacing static style caravans with modern chalet style accommodation," and say, "we take great pride in the accommodation and conditions we provide," which they say "represents good value compared with private sector accommodation."

A spokesperson for the UK government told us in a statement, “The welfare of visa holders is of paramount importance, including in the Seasonal Worker scheme, and we are clamping down on poor working conditions and exploitation.

“We work closely with scheme operators who have responsibility for ensuring the welfare of migrant workers. We will always take decisive action where we believe abusive practices are taking place or the conditions of the route are not met.”

We showed our footage to the Worker Support Centre, an organisation that supports seasonal workers to prevent labour abuse or exploitation.

They told us they’ve raised concerns about conditions in farms across the country and want to see more independent inspections of accommodation.

“It is a scandal,” Caroline Robinson, the executive director, told ITV News.

“And yet those workers are also paying high rates for that accommodation. It’s something I don’t think many people are that aware of.”

ITV News is not accusing either farm in our investigation of illegality.

Ultimately, government sets the rate for how much seasonal workers can be charged for accommodation, and it is government that issues seasonal worker visas to support Britain's agricultural sector - worth £14 billion to the UK economy.

But neither government, nor local authorities are checking the conditions are suitable, or that the accommodation fairly reflects what workers are being charged.

And that is leaving a bitter taste with those we rely on to harvest our fields and stock our supermarket shelves.

If you have concerns about the accommodation or conditions for seasonal workers highlighted in this report, you can contact the Worker Support Centre.

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