Addressing the housing crisis for refugees in Brighton: Challenges and solutions 

27th October 2024NewsCall for actionTagged

Our Generalist Advice Team offers essential support to refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants, helping them access welfare benefits, secure housing, and find childcare. However, finding suitable accommodation has become increasingly difficult, especially following the closure of the Home Office ‘hotel’ in Brighton in 2023.  

Last September 2023, our team saw a rising number of homelessness cases among refugees who had been granted status, which was also impacted by the closure of the Home Office run ‘single men’s hotel’ in Brighton in November 2023. The combination of the closure of asylum hotels and the backlog of asylum claims being processed simultaneously led to an increased demand for third sector organisations to support refugees at risk of homelessness. The closure of half of asylum hotels was part of ‘Operation Maximisation’ —a Home Office policy set out on 13th July 2023 requiring single adult asylum seekers to share a room in Initial Asylum Accommodation (mostly hotels).

The Home Office recently reported a plan to make 10,000 decisions in September and maintain this going forward, prioritising those in receipt of asylum support. Therefore, we are concerned that we will see a rise of homelessness for refugees during this winter period due to lack of housing options available; a flurry of decisions being made at once by the Home Office; a lack of mental health evidence asylum seekers hold due to stigma surrounding mental health support; low ability to access this; and long waiting lists.

To prepare for this, we’re working closely with the Refugee/Asylum pathway team at Brighton and Hove Council and attend regular network groups with the NHS and other third sector organisations.

Jesuit Refugee Service’s new report examines experiences of homelessness among people refused asylum in London in Autumn 2023. Most research participants had no secure accommodation, rough sleeping was common, people were vulnerable to exploitation and abuse and prevented from managing life-threatening conditions. We also experienced this in Brighton and Hove, where refugees had been made homeless because of the asylum system when provided with 28 days’ notice to leave Home Office accommodation and find somewhere new to live.

In addition, vulnerable migrants face multiple barriers to access both council housing and private rented accommodation: not being allowed to work for the first 12 months whilst seeking asylum and then only able to apply for the right to work where limited roles are available from the Shortage of Occupation list — therefore gaining no work experience or income. Other factors that create barriers are the ‘no recourse to public funds’ status, low level English skills, and a lack of evidence to demonstrate vulnerabilities and complex needs.

We would like to acknowledge the local agencies that work with us to support our clients in finding accommodation. These include Care4Calais, Thousand 4 £1000, Room for Refugees, Refugees at Home, Brighton Wellbeing Service, Refugee Radio, Network of International Women, Brighton Exiled Trauma Service, and Brighton Therapy Centre.

For more information on the issue of rising homelessness among refugees, check out the below resources:

Some key terms to learn:

  • Asylum Support – Accommodation and Subsistence from Home Office. This is separate from an asylum claim.
  • Shortage of Occupation List – Asylum Seekers can apply for the Right to Work after 12 months of living in the UK, but the roles are limited to what is on the Shortage of Occupation List
  • No Recourse to Public Funds (often written as NRPF) – unable to access public funds such as benefits like Universal Credit, PIP, etc.

 

Want to do more to help, but don’t know what?

Find out more about hosting a refugee on a short term let here: Refugees at Home