Home Office to Double Asylum Seekers’ Stay in Government Housing

The Home Office has announced its intention to double the duration individuals granted asylum are permitted to remain in government-provided housing. Correspondence from the government, reviewed by the BBC, indicates that the transitional period for refugees moving from supported housing to independent accommodation will be extended from 28 to 56 days, effective 9 December. This modification is characterized by the Home Office as “an interim measure,” projected to remain active until June 2025, at which point it will undergo reassessment. In the aforementioned letters, officials stated that this initiative aims to assist local authorities, following research that pointed to a substantial increase in homelessness among refugees during the preceding year. Home Office officials reported in October 2022 that the daily expenditure for accommodating asylum seekers in hotels amounted to £5.6m. A fast-track component was incorporated into the UK’s asylum system to expedite the processing of claims from individuals whose applications were anticipated to be approved due to their countries of origin. Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria, and Yemen were included on the fast-track list in February 2023. Additionally, certain claims concerning individuals from Iran and Iraq underwent accelerated processing. The Home Office’s annual accounts, released last September, pledged to “take action to address the unacceptable costs of housing migrants in hotels” and disclosed that the daily cost had escalated to £8m. Ministers declared that claims would be processed with greater speed to facilitate the closure of hotels. Furthermore, they modified the move-on system, adjusting the commencement point of the 28-day move-on period, which effectively shortened it to seven days. This alteration was reversed several weeks later; however, numerous charities contend that it initiated a persistent issue of refugee homelessness. During that period, the quantity of hotels accommodating asylum seekers saw a notable reduction. Nevertheless, a Home Office minister conceded last month that the number of hotels had begun to rise again. This month, the Home Office declined a Freedom of Information request from the BBC inquiring whether the total hotel expenditure had also decreased. The Labour party campaigned on a commitment to reduce the asylum backlog, which reached unprecedented levels under the Conservative administration. However, the Home Office’s accelerated processing has contributed in part to an increasing population of homeless refugees, who have been removed from government-provided hotel accommodation. This situation has intensified the strain on local councils and charitable organizations already managing significant levels of rough sleeping. Official government statistics, published last week, indicated that a record 123,100 households were residing in temporary accommodation at the close of June, representing a 16% increase compared to the previous year. Research released last month by the No Accommodation Network, an umbrella organization representing entities in the asylum sector, pointed to a substantial increase in refugee homelessness during the past year. According to their findings, 1,941 adults who were granted leave to remain found themselves without housing in 2023/24, an increase from 977 in 2022/23. The organization urged the government to intensify its efforts to address the “refugee homelessness emergency.” The government’s Homelessness Reduction Act, enacted in 2018, recognized that a minimum of 56 days is typically required to secure accommodation. Presently, a refugee who has been granted leave to remain is allocated up to 28 days to locate housing before being required to vacate Home Office accommodation. Should a newly recognized refugee fail to secure living arrangements within this timeframe, they frequently register as homeless with a local authority. The scarcity of available housing options has compelled numerous councils and charities to resort to more costly alternatives, including hotels and bed and breakfasts, to shelter individuals requiring assistance. The head of a homelessness charity in Manchester informed Radio 4’s Today programme this week that her organization had observed a substantial rise in the proportion of asylum seekers or refugees within its caseload, increasing from 30% to over 60% in the past 12 months. She did not specify the exact number of individuals this represented. Jo Walby, chief executive of Mustard Tree, stated that refugees frequently encounter difficulties in “access the private rented market” in major urban centers such as Manchester. She further commented: “The reality is, you can’t learn English, you can’t work, and then you have four weeks to be told to find a job and find a house and you don’t have access to government support or council support, because you don’t have priority need.” Matt Downie, who leads the homelessness charity Crisis, remarked: “This extension will ensure that people trying to rebuild their lives after fleeing war and persecution won’t face further trauma of life on the streets.” He continued: “This is a hugely positive step… it’s important that this becomes a permanent change next year if we’re going to ensure that refugees granted settled status don’t face homelessness in the future.” Phil Kerry, the chief executive of New Horizons Youth Centre, a London-based charity assisting young homeless individuals, commented: “The timing of this news could not be better and crucially means that we won’t have more refugees pushed onto the streets this Christmas.” A spokesperson for the Home Office stated: “We have inherited enormous pressures in the asylum system and remain absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels as we ramp up returns of failed asylum seekers.”