Some 64 homelessness organisations have hit out at a government plan to halve the length of time asylum seekers have to leave government-provided accommodation after being told they can stay in the UK.
The amount of time is set to be halved from 56 days to 28, which is not deemed enough time to find rented accommodation, a job and to sort out benefits – leaving people in danger of ending up on the streets.
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 the policy.
The letter said: “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.”
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.”
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.”
