We are in the midst of a refugee rough sleeping crisis

Comment07.06.24by Jacob Dimitriou

There has been no greater driver for increased rough sleeping in the past year than immigration and asylum policy, and our Refugee Lodging project aims to tackle that, writes Jacob Dimitriou, director for England at Housing Justice

Jacob Dimitriou

Jacob Dimitriou is director for England at Housing Justice

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There has been no greater driver for increased rough sleeping in the past year than immigration and asylum policy, and our Refugee Lodging project aims to tackle that, writes Jacob Dimitriou of Housing Justice #UKhousing

In almost 70 years of Housing Justice and our heritage organisations, our services in England have never been in more demand. Much of the good work on rough sleeping that took place during the pandemic has been slowly eroded, as the number of people sleeping on the streets has increased steadily across England.

While it is ultimately Britain’s chronic shortage of housing (and England’s in particular) which underpins every referral to a night shelter, there has been no greater driver of more rough sleeping in the past year than the multiple challenges within immigration and asylum policy.

In London, in particular, the crisis is acute.

The government’s annual rough sleeping figures published in March showed an alarming rise of 27% in the number of people being forced to sleep on England’s streets since last year, with 3,898 people sleeping rough on a typical night last autumn. This is an increase of 120% since records began in 2010.

Each year, local authorities carry out a count of rough sleepers on a particular night and the government uses these figures to arrive at a single figure for the number of people sleeping rough on a ‘typical’ night.

This year’s data paints a grim picture, with numbers rising for the second year in a row. Rough sleeping has increased in every region of England compared with last year. The largest increase was in London: 1,132 people in 2023, compared with 858 in 2022 – an increase of 274 people, or 32%.

“The Refugee Lodgings project offers a practical solution and provides a safety net against homelessness for newly granted refugees, a stepping stone between asylum accommodation and more permanent homes”

The situation for those leaving asylum accommodation is even bleaker, with a 965% increase in people sleeping rough, jumping from 42 people in July 2023 to 469 by December 2023.

Night shelters in our network have reported that, in some areas, more than 70% of their guests are people leaving Home Office accommodation, following the government’s commitment to end the backlog in processing asylum claims, and reduce the use of hotels for asylum seekers.

This policy has led to many newly granted refugees being evicted from their Home Office accommodation with very little notice and nowhere to go but the streets.

In response to this, we have launched the Refugee Lodgings project to sit alongside our London Hosting project. The Refugee Lodgings project offers a practical solution and provides a safety net against homelessness for newly granted refugees, a stepping stone between asylum accommodation and more permanent homes.

The project, which we rolled out across London in March, enables resident landlords to rent out their spare room to a refugee lodger for six months while they adjust to life in the UK and find work and a more permanent home.

When a refugee is granted asylum, they receive a biometric residence permit (BRP) card and are able to apply for Universal Credit. Their rent can be funded from this while they are job hunting, and the resident landlord receives a tax-free income of up to £7,500 per year.

“We have been overwhelmed by demand from referrers for lodgings placements and urgently need more resident landlords to meet this demand”

To date, we are pleased to have signed up six resident landlords and facilitated three lodging placements, with three more in the pipeline. Those we are supporting come from war-torn locations around the world and each has a traumatic story to tell. Many face significant barriers to finding accommodation and work in their first few months of achieving refugee status, including language barriers, cultural needs, social isolation and having no financial or employment history in the UK.

A refugee lodgings placement provides the individual with six months in which to begin to remove these barriers so they are able to find and fund their own private rental at the end of the placement.

We have been overwhelmed by demand from referrers for lodgings placements and urgently need more resident landlords to meet this demand. With the cost of living crisis forcing many of us to cut costs and increase our income, for those of us living in London with a spare room, the Refugee Lodgings project is an excellent way to create a significant income stream for six months.

We would be very grateful if you could spread the word among your networks and encourage any potential resident landlords to contact us, or find out more about the Refugee Lodgings project here.