Illegal workers have been arrested during a Home Office raid on a Vistry construction site in Bexhill, East Sussex.
In a statement, the Home Office said immigration enforcement officers and Sussex Police arrested 17 individuals at the unnamed site on Wednesday, 12 November, following intelligence of illegal workers hired by subcontractors.
The Home Office said those who were arrested had originally hailed from Albania, Georgia and India.
Four were detained for removal from the UK. The rest were placed on immigration bail and will need to report regularly to the Home Office.
The Home Office did not name the subcontractors it suspected of employing workers illegally.
In a statement to Construction News, Vistry said those suspected of working illegally “are not employees of Vistry” and that it “does not employee illegal workers”.
It also said it would suspend any subcontractors who do not meet their site requirements.
The housebuilder did not respond to questions about which site the workers were working on.
Construction News also contacted Sussex Police for further information.
The Home Office said it had issued the “liable employer” with a civil penalty referral notice, meaning it could face a fine of up to £60,000 per worker if it is found to have employed them illegally and failed to conduct relevant pre-employment checks.
Harry Taylor, chief immigration officer for the Home Office in the South East, said the operation “sends a clear signal that we are coming down hard on illegal working and there is no hiding place from the law”.
“Those found to be operating without the right to work will be arrested and, where possible, removed from the UK,” he added.
The Home Office said individuals travelling to the UK are in “many cases […] sold a lie by smuggling gangs that they will be able to live and work freely in the UK”.
Instead, they often face “squalid living conditions, minimal pay and inhumane working hours”, and risk arrest and removal from the country if they are found to be working illegally.
In the “largest enforcement crackdown on illegal working since records began”, the Home Office said it had arrested more than 8,000 people following 11,000 immigration enforcement raids between October 2024 and September 2025.
A spokesperson for Vistry confirmed that the Home Office visited its site on 12 November and found some operatives “employed by subcontractors on site who were suspected of working illegally at that site”.
“Vistry does not employ illegal workers,” they added, saying they take their responsibilities to prevent illegal working “extremely seriously” and has “robust measures” in place to that end.
“We conduct thorough right-to-work checks through an accredited, independent third-party provider to a high level of assurance. We also retain records and perform follow-up checks as appropriate.”
They said they had already contacted the relevant subcontractors on the site. “We will suspend any subcontractor who fails to comply with our requirements on sites.”
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