Housing asylum seekers and refugees
Two new measures are being introduced to increase housing options for the rising number of people seeking asylum in the UK, but could housing providers do more to help?
STRATEGY
Image: Istock
Heather Petch
Associate, Campbell Tickell
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Issue 65 | April 2023
In 2022 there were 72,027 asylum claims in the UK. The numbers of refugees supported under government-backed schemes also increased. Housing shortages thwart provision of sanctuary and exacerbate the toxicity that dominates debate around immigration and asylum.
Against this backdrop, two recent UK government measures to increase housing for refugees and asylum seekers and reduce the numbers in hotels seem a drop in the ocean. So how did we get here and how can we move forward?
Overcrowded accommodation
Accommodating asylum seekers and refugees was particularly under the spotlight in 2022. There was the scandal of severe overcrowding in a Kent accommodation centre, and also reports that 12,000 Afghan refugees were living in hotels costing £1.2 million per day. Responding to the latter situation, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We are proud this country has provided homes for more than 7,000 Afghan evacuees, but there is a shortage of local housing accommodation for all."
Thousands of asylum seekers have also been living in hotels (mainly in London) – a development that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic because the usual processing arrangements broke down. The Home Office is struggling to return to ‘business as usual’. For more than 20 years this has involved people arriving – predominantly at airports – in London and the south east, preliminary processing and stays in ‘initial accommodation’ centres, then a stay in ‘dispersed accommodation’ while the asylum claim is fully assessed.
Curbing the numbers
In the late 1990s/early 2000s, asylum claims were also high, peaking at more than 80,000 in 2004. Over the years, governments have persisted in trying to curb numbers and demonstrate that they are being tough. Successive measures have closed safer routes and people resort to unsafe, so-called ‘illegal’ alternatives, hence the rise in people crossing the Channel in small boats.
The policy of dispersed accommodation was also triggered by rising numbers in the late 1990s. It was introduced in 2000 and was designed to spread responsibility for housing and supporting asylum seekers and to reduce pressures in London. Asylum seekers are ‘dispersed’ on a no-choice basis across the UK – mostly in poorer areas with cheaper housing contracted to the Home Office by a handful of private providers.
New solutions
Fast-forward to the present day and the government has recently introduced two new approaches to address the situation. From April 2022 the Home Office and its contractors have been able to procure housing anywhere in the country – subject to negotiation about factors such as service accessibility and risks to community cohesion. Local authorities can no longer opt out. Financial incentives have been made available for a limited period.
In contrast to other schemes, the UK government refers to Ukrainian refugees as “our guests” and has appealed to public goodwill. About 115,000 people have been housed by the Homes for Ukraine scheme. But Ukrainian resettlement has also been hampered by shortages of affordable housing, and increasing numbers of Ukrainians have been presenting as homeless.
A package to boost housing for Ukrainians was announced in December 2022. There is £150 million in additional funding for move-on and homelessness reduction, as well as increases to incentive payments for individual households. A £500 million housing acquisition fund has a wider remit to reduce homelessness among those fleeing conflict.
“When compared against EU+ countries, in 2021 the UK ranked 6th in the absolute number of people to whom it gave protection, comprising asylum seekers and resettled refugees.”
Source: The Migration Observatory
Getting involved
It is easy to point the finger at government and Home Office ineptitude. But there are probably actions we as housing providers and housing professionals can take to help.
Be proactive in seeking out information about who the refugees and asylum seekers are in your community. Check if your services are accessible to them. Can you help increase move-on options for those who are able to settle in the UK?
Are there people who are homeless and destitute and do the values and/or remit of your organisation prompt you to help by getting in touch with those on the frontline and finding out how? And if your organisation can’t help, can you?
Since writing this piece, the Illegal Migration Bill has had its second reading. The Bill puts in place yet more barriers to people seeking refuge in the UK. As the legislation passes through parliament, measures are also being taken by the Home Office and its contracted providers to move asylum seekers and refugees out of hotels (now estimated to cost £6.8 million per day) and into large-scale and basic alternatives across the country, often in more isolated areas, for example disused military bases in rural Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire.
“It is easy to point the finger at government and Home Office ineptitude. But there are probably actions we as housing providers and housing professionals can take to help.”
