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Effective December 9th, the UK Home Office will double the transition period given to refugees granted asylum to move from government-supported housing to their own accommodations from 28 to 56 days according to official letters seen by the BBC. The extended grace period is meant to serve as an “interim measure” designed to support local authorities until June 2025, during which time it will be evaluated again. Government officials made the decision citing studies that suggested a considerable hike in refugee homelessness over the past year.
UK Home Office officials revealed in October 2022 that it cost £5.6m per day to house asylum seekers in hotels. In an attempt to expedite the processing of those whose claims were likely to be approved, a fast-track element was added to the UK’s asylum system. Subsequently, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Syria and Yemen were put on the fast-track list in February 2023, with Iran and Iraq added three months later in May. These alterations were made to address the rising hotel costs.
The Home Office’s annual accounts, published last September, stated it would “take action to address the unacceptable costs of housing migrants in hotels”. The report disclosed that the cost skyrocketed to £8m per day. Claims were to be processed more quickly to facilitate hotel closures. However, many charities claim that these decisions, including changing the move-on system, which reduced the move-on period to seven days from 28, and then reversing the change afterwards, sparked a refugee homelessness problem that persists today.
The number of hotels housing asylum seekers has significantly decreased since then, but a Home Office minister acknowledged last month that the number of hotels had started to increase. The government data revealed that at least 56 days are usually needed to find accommodation, according to the Homelessness Reduction Act, which became effective in 2018. Currently, an asylum seeker granted leave to remain has up to 28 days to find their lodgings before being evicted from Home Office shelter. If they are unsuccessful, they frequently approach local authorities to declare themselves homeless
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