WIREDGOV

• In August, the Home Office reduced the notice period given to people granted refugee status to leave asylum accommodation.
• This decision caused homelessness among refugees to triple between August and October compared to the same period in 2022.
• Homeless Link understand that the Home Office is now ending the practice and returning to the original 28 day notice period from receipt of their Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).

Rick Henderson, CEO at Homeless Link, the membership body for frontline homelessness services responds to the decision

“The Home Office’s decision to reduce the notice period for people granted refugee status to leave asylum accommodation was deeply damaging, causing rough sleeping to skyrocket and exposing new refugees to the trauma of homelessness. At the same time, it placed huge strain on homelessness services, many of which are already at breaking point. We therefore welcome this reversal.

“This policy was a clear example of government departments working in silos, not appreciating the consequences of their decisions, and undermining efforts happening across government. The Government has committed to ending rough sleeping by the end of this parliament and yet for months we have seen a huge increase in refugees being evicted onto the streets, which is clearly absurd. That’s why we are calling for the next Government to adopt a cross-government approach to ending homelessness and to mitigate the risks new refugees face when leaving the asylum system.”