Refugees: Homelessness

(asked on 20th June 2019) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle homelessness among newly recognised refugees who are unable to secure housing in the 28 days provided by the Home Office to move-on from asylum accommodation.


Answered by
Caroline Nokes Portrait
Caroline Nokes
This question was answered on 25th June 2019

The Government has implemented a number of initiatives to ensure that refugees are able to access benefits and housing promptly once any support they have been receiving from the Home Office ends 28 days after the grant of their status.

Refugees are eligible to receive assistance with housing from their local authority in the same way as British Citizens or other permanent residents of the UK and are treated as a priority need if they have children or are considered vulnerable. Asylum accommodation providers are already under a contractual duty to refer these cases to the appropriate local authority and from September this year Migrant Help, a voluntary sector organisation funded by the Home Office to provide advice to asylum seekers, will provide additional services to help refugees access local authority housing assistance.

Additionally, “Local Authority Asylum Liaison Officers” (LAASLOs) are being piloted in areas with large refugees leaving asylum support and part of their role is to provide assistance to access housing.

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