Intergration support provided by London boroughs
- Boroughs have worked hard to mobilise resources and voluntary sector networks to assist newly recognised refugees. Much of this support commences before someone has received their asylum decision, given that 28-days is insufficient time to help someone learn the language, attend a job interview, sign a tenancy in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) and claim benefits (e.g. housing benefits).
- Outreach teams across boroughs provide a crucial safety net for asylum seekers and refugees seeking sanctuary in the capital. For example, one borough runs weekly workshops to support and sign post newly recognised refugees into PRS accommodation. Boroughs have also been proactive in supporting the mental health and welfare needs of refugees through providing translated resources and engagement with NHS partners to provide talking therapy spaces. Boroughs also provide access to English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, employment support and assistance with registering for benefits, as well as running cultural awareness classes and supporting individuals and families to build new homes and lives in the UK.
- Boroughs are thus best placed in providing wraparound and move-on support for refugees and many are already doing so successfully to help people build independent lives after leaving Home Office accommodation. Boroughs are keen to stress, however, that this process takes many months and complexities such as trauma often emerge once the uncertainty and limbo of life in Home Office accommodation comes to an end. Ongoing support for these individuals is thus often crucial, but funding and resources do not presently match the response needed.
- London Councils welcomes the government’s decision to reinstate the 28-day move on period for newly recognised refugees to leave Home Office accommodation. However, given the pace and scale of people receiving decisions and the time is takes (5 to 6 weeks) to receive universal credit, we call for a 56-day move on period to mitigate the risks of homelessness facing newly recognised refugees once evicted from Home Office accommodation.
Refugee homlessness concerns
- Despite the extensive work of London boroughs in supporting newly recognised refugees integrate in the UK, the success of this work is greatly constrained by the record numbers of newly recognised refugees becoming homelessness and forced to sleep rough after being evicted from Home Office accommodation.
- In October 2023, there were 846 homelessness presentations made by refugees and asylum-seekers evicted from Home Office accommodation such as hotels. October also saw at least 112 people sleeping rough in London after leaving Home Office accommodation.
- In November, this figure increased to 220 people sleeping rough after leaving Home Office accommodation, an increase of 87% from the month prior. Boroughs fear that January figures are likely to rise again.
- Boroughs provide vital support to newly recognised refugees through registering their housing/homelessness applications and providing critical move-on support to help people into PRS. Some boroughs have recently used Rough Sleeping Grant funding to buy into a lodgings and PRS deposit support scheme to provide short-term accommodation to those facing or at risk of homelessness. However, without adequate funding, this model is unsustainable in the long-term.
- Boroughs are already facing enormous and unsustainable homelessness pressures, with a severe shortage of accommodation. Many boroughs report having nothing to offer refugees who are sleeping rough as many are single men and women under 35 and thus considered as non-priority need. This is exacerbated by the Home Office providing no funding to local authorities to support asylum-seekers in hotels since 1 April 2023.
- The government must recognise the importance of the move-on period for newly recognised refugees and commit to end-to-end support that provides assistance and intervention as early as possible, and well before someone receives their asylum decision.
London Councils' asks of the government
While it is positive that applicants are receiving decisions on their asylum cases, London Councils reiterate the need to ensure adequate housing arrangements are in place and that the Home Office works closely with councils to avoid refugees and asylum-seekers becoming homeless.
Closer co-ordination between the Home Office and local authorities is essential for securing appropriate housing, preventing homelessness, and ensuring those granted asylum have the best opportunity to settle in the UK.
The significant work councils are undertaking to support asylum seekers represents a substantial new burden for boroughs – but this is not recognised in government funding arrangements. London Councils is urging the government to provide additional funding to local authorities to cover the costs of providing wraparound support.
In particular, we call on government to:
- Extend the move-on period to 56-days to permit meaningful wraparound support for councils to assess individuals' physical and mental health needs and to ensure application and receipt of Universal Credit which can take up to 6 weeks. A 56-day move on period would also enable local authority housing teams to support more refugees into housing, including managing complex cases, further reducing rough sleeping.
- Fund boroughs to provide a wraparound support model which would include early intervention support including facilitating access to employment and/or to Universal Credit, access to ESOL, and assessments of individuals physical and mental health needs.
- Enhance Rough Sleeping Prevention grant funding to support those who are at risk of rough sleeping, but who are not eligible for assistance under the Homelessness Reduction Act/Housing Act legislation.
- Recognise asylum accommodation as supported/hostel accommodation given the use of shared facilities in asylum accommodation and people’s average length of stay is usually greater than three months. This would mean refugees could access PRS accommodation at the higher self-contained LHA rate rather than being capped at the shared room rate. The shared room rate is unaffordable in the current PRS market in London; very few rooms are available and affordable at this lower rate.
However, even with improved processes there remains the fundamental issue of London’s severe and worsening shortage of affordable accommodation, which has led to massive and unsustainable homelessness pressures. Integration cannot successfully occur without tackling the broader context of refugee rough sleeping and London’s chronic housing shortage.
London Councils is also urging the government to:
- Boost Homelessness Prevention Grant funding. Local authorities play a vital role in supporting struggling households to avoid homelessness. Councils require an immediate emergency funding increase to ensure local services have the resources needed in the face of rising levels of demand for support.
- Increase Discretionary Housing Payments. These payments are used by councils to help residents in financial crisis meet their housing costs. They are an essential homelessness prevention tool, but government funding for Discretionary Housing Payments in 2023-24 has been frozen at 2022-23 levels, despite significantly increasing homelessness pressures.
- Bring forward a cross-departmental strategy to reduce homelessness. Tackling homelessness must become a major priority at a national level with government departments working together – in addition to key partners such as local authorities – as effectively as possible.
