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More than 60 homelessness and asylum seeker organisations have urged ministers to reverse an eviction policy that could leave thousands more refugees on the streets this winter.
Leading homelessness organisations including Crisis, Shelter, St Mungo’s and the Chartered Institute of Housing and dozens of refugee and migrant organisations have written to the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and the housing secretary, Steve Reed, urging them to cancel a controversial new policy which halves the length of time asylum seekers have to leave government-provided accommodation after they have been granted leave to remain, from 56 days to 28 days.
The organisations and refugees say 28 days is not long enough to find rented accommodation, a job and to sort out benefits, leaving them more likely to end up on the streets after being moved on from Home Office asylum accommodation.
The letter warns that as well as undermining the government’s strategy to end homelessness, having a big increase in refugees sleeping on the streets will exacerbate community tensions and put rthem at risk from those expressing racist and anti-migrant sentiments.
It states: “The additional pressure for local councils comes as the number of people living in temporary accommodation is at an all-time high, and a lack of alternatives will result in further use of expensive, nightly, paid options for those eligible.
“Furthermore, to cause higher rates of homelessness among newly recognised refugees at a time when racist and anti-migrant sentiment is on the rise will put individuals at even greater risk of harm on the streets and exacerbate community tensions. We urge you to reconsider.”
Bridget Young, the director of Naccom, said: “The move-on period is a critical time for people leaving Home Office accommodation to find safe, secure housing and support, to avoid ending up homeless and destitute. Extending this period by a short time has been shown to make a material difference in avoiding rough sleeping and ensuring refugees are able to move on with their lives and integrate into communities more quickly. This is a small policy change that has made a significant positive impact and we urge the government to reconsider its decision to reverse it.”
Rick Henderson, the chief executive at Homeless Link, the national membership body for frontline homelessness services, said: “We were appalled at the government U-turn on their previous decision to grant new refugees 56 days to find somewhere to live, before being asked to leave Home Office accommodation. A shorter move-on period is guaranteed to increase rough sleeping and homelessness among an extremely vulnerable group of people.
“That 64 organisations working directly on these issues oppose the reversal on 56 days is testament to the fact that the longer move-on period has been effective in ensuring refugees receive critical support to find accommodation and prevent destitution. Changing this now due to public pressure and anti-migrant rhetoric is a huge mistake that will not appease its critics and will only put individuals at risk of harm on the streets while adding to the challenges and expenses faced by overstretched homelessness services and local authorities.”
A government spokesperson said: “This government inherited a broken asylum and immigration system. We are taking practical steps to turn that chaos around – including doubling asylum decision-making to clear the backlog left by the previous government and reducing the number of people in hotels by 6,000 in the first half of 2025.
“We continue to work with local councils, NGOs and other stakeholders to ensure any necessary assistance is provided for those individuals who are granted refugee status.”
