This crisis is a result of systemic failure: the process refugees face while transitioning through the so-called ‘move-on’ period is dysfunctional by design, and discriminatory in delivery. Refugees have only 28 days to secure housing before eviction from asylum accommodation, risking homelessness and destitution due to their lack of savings and inability to work during their asylum claim.

Newly recognised refugees face significant barriers to finding long term sustainable housing, due to insufficient housing support and obstacles in accessing private tenancies that can be impossible to overcome.

Refugees have only 28 days to secure housing before eviction from asylum accommodation, risking homelessness and destitution due to their lack of savings and inability to work during their asylum claim.

Receiving refugee status should be a time of celebration, but hostile policies leave many, including children, survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and survivors of human trafficking, in significant crisis.

The next government must end the refugee homelessness crisis and support refugees in transitioning to stable lives in the UK. You can learn more about the refugee homelessness crisis in our recent report Keys to the City 2024: Ending refugee homelessness in London.

What are we proposing?

We want to see an end to the refugee homelessness crisis.

This is within the means of the next Government. The next Government should, within the first 100 days:

• Extend the move-on period to at least 56 days, in line with the Homelessness Reduction Act and the application for Universal Credit.
• Work closely with statutory services and civil society organisations to ensure that the transition for newly recognised refugees works smoothly, including through sharing data and staggering evictions from Home Office accommodation.
• Provide refugees with all their documentation at the same time. In line with recent Home Office policy, the 28-day notice period should never begin before someone has received their BRP.
• Issue clear guidance to local authorities that a newly recognised refugee is at risk of homelessness from the moment they receive notification of the decision on their asylum claim.
• Work with all local authorities to establish a fund that would cover the cost of tenancy deposits for new refugees

You can read about these recommendations in more detail in our repo Keys to the City 2024: Ending refugee homelessness in London and Why the changes to the “move-on” period mean more refugees are facing homelessness and destitution

What impact will these recommendations have?

These steps above would ensure that refugees start their new life in the UK with a secure and stable home and it would reduce expenditure on homelessness support. It would stop people like Yahya becoming street homeless.

Every day at the Refugee Council we work with newly recognised refugees who are homeless or threatened with homelessness through our Private Rented Scheme and our Refugee Advice Project.

Yahya is 25 years old and from Sudan where he grew up in a refugee camp. Yahya waited almost three years before receiving a positive decision on his asylum claim—he was then told to leave his accommodation with only a week’s notice. He was sleeping on the street for around ten days.

He said:

When I was sleeping on the street, some people they can grab your bag, when you have some important papers inside, your ID and your decision papers. All night I couldn’t sleep, I tied my bag onto my body.

I know so many refugees who are sleeping on the street, still they don’t get any help. People don’t understand what we’re going through, if they knew, they’d help us more, but they don’t know exactly.

We’re going through difficulty, but it’s not in the news, no one is caring about them, like they were in the first weeks of the war. For me, I hope they can make it easier. I hope to develop myself, to do something in the future, to help others. ■

There is a lot you can do to educate yourself about these issues. For example, you can read more about the support we provide to people like Yahya who face hardship due to a system that is failing them, like the Destitution Service, our Private Rented Scheme and the Refugee Advice Project.

You can read Ruba’s story, told by a disability activist and refugee from Sierra Leone who was threatened with homelessness.

You can educate yourself about refugee homelessness in the UK by reading our report Keys to the City: How the next Mayor of London can help end refugee homelessness.

Our first General Election blog post looks at the steps a new Government must take to restore our asylum system and give refugees the chance to rebuild their lives on UK soil.

Lastly but most importantly, you can donate to the Refugee Council and make a difference in refugee’s lives today.