Homelessness among refugees has doubled in the last year to reach record levels as charities hand out tents and sleeping bags to those forced to live on the streets for the first time, according to research.
The No Accommodation Network (Naccom), an umbrella organisation for 140 frontline organisations working with asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants across the UK, has collated the data and shared it with the Guardian.
It reveals a 99% increase in refugee homelessness in the last 12 months, with 1,941 refugees finding themselves without accommodation. When including asylum seekers and other migrants, the number regarded as destitute or homeless rises to 4,146. A total of 850 people were recorded as sleeping rough, a 125% increase on last year’s figure.
According to Naccom these are the highest numbers they have ever dealt with. “There is a refugee homelessness emergency,” their report concludes. It adds that charities are left to fill the gap and provide a vital safety net due to significant gaps in statutory services and a “hostile environment” for refugees and other migrants.
The rise is put down in part to the large backlog in asylum claims, and the last government’s attempts to clear that. While refugees and charities welcome the speedier processing of protection claims, they say there is not enough affordable housing available in the private rented sector.
For the first time, members of the Naccom network provided more than half a million nights of accommodation – 501,371 – to those in need, 51% more than in 2021-22.
Around half of refugees managed to access private rented accommodation. Charities have put in place a range of other options, sometimes working with local authorities. Hosting has become a successful, albeit temporary, option.
Use of night shelters has risen and 288 properties have been made available by Naccom organisations to accommodate 1,543 people, either for no rent or a peppercorn rent. A new model added to the mix is lodging which, unlike hosting where no money changes hands, asks people to pay an affordable rent from their wages or housing benefit.
Recommendations for change include extending the Home Office move-on period after someone is evicted from asylum accommodation from 28 to 56 days, and ending “hostile environment” policies more broadly.
Bridget Young, the director of Naccom, said: “Our research shows that thousands of people each year are needlessly pushed into destitution as they go through the asylum and immigration system. Urgent change is needed to ensure that the system doesn’t keep driving up levels of homelessness.”
A government spokesperson said: “We have inherited huge pressures in the asylum system, but we are working to make sure individuals have the support they need following an asylum decision and to help local authorities better plan their assistance with homelessness.
“Support for newly recognised refugees is available through Migrant Help and their partners, which includes advice on how to access universal credit, the labour market and where to get assistance with housing.”
