The ‘Hostile’ Deadline Forcing Refugees Into Destitution and Indignity on British Streets

Day and night, Dr Amal, a recently recognised refugee in London originally from the Middle East, has been scouring the housing market to find a landlord who accepts tenants receiving housing benefits. 

“I’ve been looking since the start of August, before my last Home Office interview,” the 31-year-old, who volunteers her time with the charity Doctors of the World, told Byline Times. 

Once she was granted refugee status in September 2024, she was warned, like any other recently recognised refugee, that she had a 28-day move on period to open a bank account, apply for Universal Credit, and find housing. 

That’s when things started to go wrong.

“Even though I have a job offer, landlords don’t accept you without payslips”, she says.

“They dismiss you. If I do find something, it is way overpriced. There are agencies that only deal with refugees. When you go for a visit, there are another 17 people that are looking for the same property.”

Unable to find an affordable, appropriate place that will accept her, Dr Amal was evicted from her asylum accommodation on October 3, and is now living in a charity-run shared accommodation for women. 

“It’s impossible to find something in 28 days in this market”, she says. “The experience [of trying to find a home] is overwhelming. It’s an intense sense of urgency. The trauma of past experiences and the uncertainty of what lay ahead feels exhausting. I’d often talk with landlords and agents who would make harsh remarks, vague threats and prey on the vulnerable conditions me and others like me are in. These daily challenges built up and left me feeling both emotionally drained and in a constant state of tension.  I feel alone battling a system plagued by inefficiency.”

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‘An Inescapable Period of Destitution’

In December, Baroness Lister of Burtersett will present the second reading of the Asylum Support Bill, which would introduce a minimum 56-day “move on” period following an asylum decision. Under the current rules refugees have just 28 days after being granted refugee status before they lose financial support and accommodation from the Home Office.

The result of this short time allowance is that many newly-accepted refugees quickly fall into poverty and homelessness.

“What should be a time of joy – the receipt of refugee status – refugees all too often face destitution,” Baroness Lister told Byline Times. “It’s clear that it’s a real problem only having 28 days to sort everything out before losing asylum accommodation and support.”

Baroness Lister will present her bill with the backing of the Refugee Council. 

“The current 28-day move-on period is far too short and sets newly-recognised refugees up to fall into crisis,” Woodren Brade, Policy Officer at the Refugee Council, told Byline Times.

“Refugees are given only four weeks to secure housing, begin applying for work and benefits, and navigate the rental market, all while having no income or savings due to restrictions during the asylum process. Twenty eight days to set up a new life in the UK is entirely insufficient and puts refugees at risk of falling into poverty, homelessness and destitution.”

This isn’t just any group of people falling into destitution – it’s a people group who have already been plagued with trauma. 

“The constant uncertainty and risk of homelessness during this period can worsen existing trauma and anxiety for newly recognised refugees”, Brade continued. “The hostile move on policies and practices are already leaving individuals, including children, survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and survivors of human trafficking, facing a moment of significant crisis just when their status is finally clarified.”

Mubeen Bhutta, of the British Red Cross, says that “every day” his charity supports people facing life on the streets.

“Newly recognised refugees face an almost inescapable period of destitution and indignity as the first step of their new life,” he said.

“For years, we have been calling on the Government to extend the move-on period for refugees to 56 days. Refugees have already experienced unimaginable trauma. They deserve more time and support so they can live in safety and dignity.”

The 28-day move on period for refugees has been in place for years, but Zoe Gardner, a migration policy specialist told Byline Times it “never worked”, suggesting the time period has become even more detrimental to refugees as time has gone on. 

“People are isolated from potential support in hotels, availability of local authority accommodation is more difficult to access, the asylum process is taking longer, and people aren’t able to access English language or integration support,” she said.

“It’s resulted in a significant increase in people becoming destitute over time because the system has become more hostile and less well functioning.”

Hind came to the UK nine years ago seeking refuge from an unsafe situation in the Middle East. Three years ago, she was finally granted refugee status. She didn’t have time to feel happy, but instead, she immediately worried about how she was going to avoid being made homeless, with no money to support herself. 

“I was so stressed,” the 35-year-old, who lives in London supported by Women for Refugee Women, told Byline Times. “When you’re in the asylum system, no one teaches you what to do after your decision. Once you have the decision, you have no idea what to do next.”

First, she went to the council to try and find housing, but as she didn’t have children, she was told she was not a priority for social housing. 

“They told me I had to search for a property by myself”, she said. “I didn’t have money to pay for the deposit and one month’s advance rent. I began asking people if they could lend me money.”

Unable to find any support, Hind begged a landlord to let her rent his property, assuring him the council would give her a discretionary fund payment she could then pay back to him as her deposit. 

“For three months, he called me every day and said I had lied to him,” she said. “He became aggressive toward me and shouted at me.”

On a couple of occasions, he tried to persuade her to be in a relationship with him as an unsaid repayment. 

Having made housing her first priority, Hind applied 15 days late for Universal Credit. It would be another five weeks before Hind received any payments. 

“I just stayed in and didn’t go anywhere for weeks,” she said. “I was eating from the food bank. I was depressed – crying all day. Sometimes, I was suicidal. I thought when I got my status, it would solve my problems, but it created more problems.”

After eight years of waiting for his asylum decision, Sarba was finally given his refugee status at the end of August 2024. On 29 October, he received a letter from the Home Office notifying him he had until 7 November to stay in his asylum accommodation. 

The council told him they could do nothing for him, yet he won’t receive his Universal Credit payments for another month.

“If they don’t give me accommodation, what should I do?” he asked, mentioning he fears he might be made street homeless. 

“I won’t feel safe sleeping outside,” he said. “It would be very hard.”

One torture survivor supported by Freedom from Torture, Sarah, told Byline Times she was given just ten days to leave her asylum accommodation after receiving asylum in 2023. 

“There was no explanation of why or what was going to happen,” Sarah, in her early 30s, said. “I just had to pack up and leave. I became more stressed and panicked. I needed to attend the job centre, I had to deal with my housing, I had endless phone calls and often did not know what was being told to me. There was so much back and forth. I was often promised things and not called back. This did not ease my anxiety. The days were going by, and nothing was resolved. All was unknown. I had no idea if I would find a place. I was more anxious and completely lost.”

On the eve of her eviction, Sarah was given an address in London she could move to, and on the day of eviction, she gathered her belongings to move. She had no financial or practical help to move, but depended on a friend to take her to the new property in a taxi.

“I felt like I was still living in precarity,” she said. “I did not feel like I had status because I was living in fear. I still feel this way and it is related to the time I was moved. It was so short.”

At the very least, Brade would like to see the move-on period aligned with the Homelessness Act, which legislates 56 days’ notice. 

“For newly recognised refugees, this period should start from when they are able to access their eVisa,” Brade said. “This extended period would better align with Universal Credit application timelines. It would also give them a better chance to find stable housing and look for work before being evicted from Home Office accommodation.”

While Gardner agreed that 56 days is more reasonable than 28, she said move-on plans should be in place from day one of the asylum process. 

“Then you won’t have this gap you all the sudden have to known everything but obviously don’t,” she said. 

Baroness Lister is unsure of how the government will respond to the reading of her Bill in December. 

“I know it’s an issue they are aware of, and they want to improve the situation but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll support the Bill,” she said. “While we are not suggesting that the Bill is a silver bullet that would solve the problem of refugee homelessness, it would help and make the transition from asylum to refugee status for a group in very vulnerable circumstances.”

Brade too is hopeful that as the new Government takes action to process asylum claims, they will also “implement immediate practical and effective solutions to prevent a surge of new refugees facing rough sleeping over the coming months and in the longer term.”

Gardner said she thinks the current government is willing to address the basic competence issues and “nitty gritty” process bits, so will likely seriously consider this Bill. 

“It’s just a change in policy that makes the system work better,” she said. “But I think when it comes to bigger picture asylum policies to make the system more accessible and welcoming – that will be much harder to win.”