Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that asylum seekers have access to decent housing in all areas of the UK.

The contract for asylum accommodation requires contractors to provide accommodation that is safe, habitable and fit for purpose; the requirements are equivalent to the Decent Homes Standards. The contract requires a strict inspection regime for the suppliers and a Home Office contract compliance team undertakes further inspections. When an inspection identifies a defect there are strict time frames within which a remedy must be provided. Over the life of the current contracts the standards of accommodation have improved.

The Home Office works closely with local government to increase the number of local authorities that participate in the asylum dispersal scheme; the number of areas participating has increased by over a third in the last two years.