Ellie Ames 06 December 2024

Home Office doubles time for new refugees to find home

Home Office doubles time for new refugees to find home image
Image: William Barton / Shutterstock.com.

The Home Office will temporarily give new refugees more time to move on from asylum accommodation, in a move it is hoped will reduce pressure on councils’ homelessness services.

The move-on period will be extended from 28 to 56 days in a pilot scheme that will initially run until June, when officials will assess whether it should continue.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We have inherited enormous pressures in the asylum system and remain absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels as we ramp up returns of failed asylum seekers.’

Homeless Link said giving new refugees just 28 days to find a home meant the Government had previously ‘simply accepted homelessness as part of the asylum system’.

The charity described the pilot as ‘a really welcome step’, for which it had been campaigning, but said it would like to see the change made permanent.

Homeless Link's director of social change, Fiona Colley, said: ‘Giving newly recognised refugees more time to find housing and start building their lives outside of the asylum system will be so important in helping prevent homeless for so many people, greatly reducing the risk of refugees becoming homeless and taking pressure off already overstretched local authority and voluntary and community sector homelessness services.’

SIGN UP
For your free daily news bulletin
Highways jobs

Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist

Oxfordshire County Council
£62215 - £72293
How about joining The Clinical Team at Oxfordshire County Council in our new Community Family Clinic initiative? Oxford
Recuriter: Oxfordshire County Council

Traffic Management Officer - WMF2114e

Westmorland and Furness Council
£37,035 - £37,938
Are you an experienced and motivated professional looking to take the next step in your traffic management career? Cumbria / Various
Recuriter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Peripatetic Support Assistant

Wakefield Council
£16,415.00 - £16,675.23 Grade 4, 24.5 hours, Permanent
Are you caring, compassionate, and friendly? Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recuriter: Wakefield Council

Peripatetic Support Assistant

Wakefield Council
£14,070.00 - £14,293.05 Grade 4, 21 hours, Permanent
Are you caring, compassionate, and friendly? Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recuriter: Wakefield Council

Recruitment Support Officer

Durham County Council
£25,584 to £27,711 p.a. (Grade 5) pay award pending
We are looking for a Recruitment Support Officer to join our team on a temporary basis until 31 March 2026. In this role, you will provide a comprehe Spennymoor
Recuriter: Durham County Council
Linkedin Banner