The British government has come under pressure over how much notice is given to people who have to leave asylum seeker accommodation once they have been granted refugee status. Charities say a change in policy has put refugees at risk of homelessness.
"Thousands of new refugees face destitution and homelessness after being told to leave their accommodation at short notice," claims an open letter published by the UK’s Refugee Council on September 6.
The letter, also signed by over 140 organizations working with homelessness, refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, was sent to the Home Secretary (Interior Minister) Suella Braverman, as well as the Secretary for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove. It questions what the charities say are "recent government policy changes to the process for newly recognized refugees, commonly referred to as the 'move on' process."
The charities say that the government has reduced the period of notice given to people recently granted asylum by the government to quit the accommodation provided for them while they were asylum seekers and waiting for a decision, from 28 days to just seven days.
'Unnecessary burden on homelessness services'
The letter states that the much shorter period of notice makes it "virtually impossible to secure housing and financial support," thus placing an unnecessary burden on homelessness services in the country.
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According to the government, the time period has not changed. But the charities say that the 28-day period now starts from when someone is issued a grant letter, instead of when they are issued with a full biometric residence permit (BRP) which allows them to start the process of registering for all the other housing and welfare services they might need to begin integrating into British society.
One refugee from Sierra Leone, Ali Martin, shared his experiences of the move on process at the end of 2022, before there had been claims that the notice period had been reduced. Martin said, "I won my appeal, I got my decision on November 9. But the Home Office notified me that I should leave the premises. I would be homeless. An organization contacted the local council on my behalf. They advised me that I should wait five working days. Nobody contacted me. I waited, I reminded the council. I called on the phone, all day, nobody picked up the call, I wrote an email, attached my eviction notice, I am a blind person. I will be homeless by January 3, all you guys are going on holiday! What’s going to be my plight?"
'I was shocked...my hands are still shaking'
In an article published on August 15, The Guardian newspaper interviewed a woman who said her notice period was just seven days. The woman, who was granted refugee status after being found to have been a victim of human trafficking and whose 13-year-old daughter attends a school close to the asylum seeker accommodation where they had been staying, told the Guardian: "I was shocked the Home Office only gave us seven days to find a new place to live. My hands are still shaking."
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The woman said on receiving the notice, she immediately started packing, but knowing that council waiting lists in the UK tend to be very long, she and her daughter were unable to sleep and worried that they might be sent far away. On receiving the eviction notice they had to leave most of their belongings and present at the council as homeless. It then took all day before they were finally offered more temporary emergency accommodation.
The new temporary accommodation was relatively near the old property, but there was no guarantee that they would still be there in September when the new school term started, or indeed how long they could remain after that, putting the girl's education at risk.
'Seven days feels like just seconds'
The woman said, "having only seven days feels like just seconds. I have gone through a lot with what happened when I was trafficked and I am very vulnerable. I need more time to sort everything out."
The Helen Bamber Foundation has been supporting the woman and her daughter, and Zoe Dexter from the foundation told the Guardian that people needed a "reasonable amount of time" in order to rebuild their lives safely.
"Seven days is simply untenable," said Dexter. It "puts thousands of survivors of trafficking and refugees at increased risk of homelessness, destitution and exploitation as they face eviction with nowhere to go."
'Individuals should make onward plans as soon as possible'
InfoMigrants phoned the Home Office and was told that the policy had not really changed, but was now being properly enforced according to previously stated rules. A Home Office spokesperson said: "Individuals will still get at least 28 days to move on from accommodation and where an individual has not had a BRP card issued within the 28 day notice period, they remain on support until it is issued."
The spokesperson added that they encouraged "individuals to make their onward plans as soon as possible after receiving their decision."
The department is in a process of modernizing the asylum system, the spokesperson said, and is hoping to increase productivity "by simplifying and digitizing processes."
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In a written statement, the Home Office insists that individuals still receive a prescribed 28 days once "they are informed that that their asylum claim has been granted." However, confusingly, individuals also receive a "notice to quit" letter "at least seven days before the individual’s accommodation and support payments are due to end."
The government department says it offers new refugees advice on accessing the labor market and applying for benefits as well as "signposting to local authorities for assistance with housing."
However, charities claim that previously, the 28-day period started once a refugee had been issued with a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) because it is hard to secure alternative accommodation without such a card, or indeed open a bank account or apply for welfare benefits. The Home Office says that those who don’t receive a BRP within their 28-day period would remain on support until the BRP is issued.
Recommendation: Extend 'move on process' to 56 days
In their open letter to the Home Secretary the charities explain that the changes center around when the 28-day period starts. They say that often seven to ten days elapse between receiving a grant letter and receiving a BRP, which means that people have very little time to "engage with the processes that are vital for them to avoid homelessness and destitution."
The letter also states that the government’s own Homelessness Reduction Act recognizes that "at least 56 days are usually needed to find accommodation for those at risk of homelessness. Additionally Universal Credit [welfare benefits] has a built-in 35-day delay before a first payment is made."
The charities have called on the government to consider lengthening the 'move-on process' to 56 days, as they say that would help "prevent destitution and homelessness among newly recognized refugees."
InfoMigrants is not aware of any government response to this request.