Home Office raids Titanic Loft Lines apartments as part of immigration enforcement
Figures released by the Home Office show that between 5 July 2024 and 31 May 2025, 113 visits resulted in 148 arrests. This marked a 48% rise compared to the year before.The department said it was part of "a drive to combat illegal working" with a particular focus on tackling employers facilitating illegal working, often subjecting migrants to squalid conditions and illegal working hours below minimum wage.Restaurants, nail bars and construction sites have been among the thousands of businesses targeted.
Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said the government was "committed to tackling illegal working as we intensify our enforcement efforts to disrupt organised immigration networks at every level"."There must be no hiding place from the law and these figures demonstrate our determination to curb immigration offending and disrupt unscrupulous employers," she added."Under our Plan for Change, we are laser focused on fixing our immigration system and securing our borders once and for all."
BBC News NI understands that a major co-ordinated operation reported in March, took place at the Loft Lines development.Offences ranged from breaching visa conditions to illegal entry in the UK with no permission to work.Loft Lines is a three-block apartment development located at Queen's Island in the docks area of the city, on land which used to form part of the Harland and Wolff shipyard.The majority of the 778 apartments will be privately owned and rented out to tenants, but up to 20% of the properties will be constructed as social, affordable homes.
Developers
The lead developers of the site are Lacuna Developments and Watkin Jones Group PLC, while Graham Group are leading on construction.Watkin Jones PLC declined to comment.Lacuna Developments have been approached for comment by BBC News NI.The development has previously been criticised for blocking the view of Belfast's Titanic museum as the apartments are being built in front of it.BBC News NI understands that 30 of the individuals arrested elected to leave the UK voluntarily.Five have been placed on immigration bail and are now required to report regularly to the Home Office.A 16-year-old boy was also being supported by local authorities.The individual arrested on suspicion of immigration offences has been bailed pending further investigation.
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The Barratts, who spent a combined total of almost 50 years working at the site, said it had been "very hard, but it gave us a good standard of living".Mrs Barratt said GF would "really look after people", adding: "If you had any problems, they would do their best to help you out."One bloke had a big gambling problem and he was in big debt financially, so what they did was they sacked him, gave him his pension, and then reemployed him - so he could pay them off," she said."That's how kind it was then."Mr Barratt said it had been "good fun" to work at the factory. "We used to do our job, but we did also used to have a proper laugh," he wife of more than 60 years said: "It was a job for life, really - they were always pretty fair and they paid good money."We got to do a lot of things we hadn't thought doable - it gave us all of very good lives." By 1982, my dad had followed in his father's footsteps and joined the the General Foods how he ended up working at the factory, he said: "I put in for a job and I got it because they used to take on family members."Over the past 60 or so years my dad worked there, my aunt and uncle worked there, my sister worked there, my cousins worked there - they really looked after families."Although you had to be careful what you said about someone, because you'd say something and the person you'd be talking to would turn around and say 'oi, that's my husband you're on about'." 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