Landlords and Housing Associations asked to fill short-term gaps to prevent homelessness
TWO charities are partnering on a project to help prevent refugees and asylum seekers from becoming homeless.
Tai Pawb, a housing charity which aims to advance equality and social justice, is working with Oasis Cardiff Refugee Centre to increase the amount of temporary accommodation for refugees in Cardiff.
Together, they are looking to persuade landlords and housing associations to offer safe and secure accommodation for those who have been forced to flee their homes.
Under current Home Office policy, asylum seekers granted leave to remain are given just 28 days to leave their state-provided accommodation and find housing.
This search is complicated by the fact that it can take up to five weeks to get a first payment for a Universal Credit claim, which itself is dependent on being provided with a national insurance number on time.
“Essentially you have a pipeline of people who are suddenly being told, you need to find somewhere to live, and you have a month in which to do it,” said Rob Milligan, Tai Pawb’s Funding and Partnerships Manager.
“So we’re very concerned about the number of refugees who have been made essentially homeless.”
Clare Hollinshead, Tai Pawb’s Housing Development Manager who works closely with Oasis Refugee Centre, says that the 28-day notice can come as a shock to many, with secure housing being crucial to help people settle into their new lives.
“There is a need for good housing for refugees to be able to integrate,” she said. “I think what’s worth understanding about refugees and asylum seekers is there’s a lot of trauma involved in the journey that they take here.
“There are asylum seekers and refugees who turn up to the drop-in centre at Oasis on a regular basis. It’s very clear that they can easily fall through a bit of a gap.”
Tai Pawb’s 2019 feasibility study found that a lack of stable accommodation for refugees was a severe issue, especially in Cardiff.
In 2018, Cardiff had 1,293 asylum seekers living in dispersed accommodation, far higher than any other city in Wales and England, and one respondent who worked in the sector told the study that every refugee they worked with had experienced homelessness at some point.
“I’ve been to Housing Options, they advised me to start looking for a private rented property,” one refugee interviewed for the 2019 report told Tai Pawb.
“I’ve already looked online at Rightmove, Zoopla and Gumtree but when I follow properties up, they say they will not accept me because I’m currently unemployed and on benefits.”
To address these challenges, Tai Pawb has partnered with Oasis Refugee Centre to provide more short-term accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers in Cardiff.
The project, which began in June of last year, will look to recruit social housing providers to release extra housing stock in order to house refugees.
“This project is effectively a dream come true for us, following the recommendations from the feasibility study” said Ross Thomas, Tai Pawb’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs Manager.
“Working to get better accommodation, better provision, and allowing asylum seekers to contribute as refugees in Wales to society in the local community has been something we’ve been really frustrated we haven’t been able to do until now.”
More than 30 housing providers have signed up to Tai Pawb’s ‘Deeds not Words’ pledge, which includes a commitment to free up properties to house refugees. The organisation is confident more will follow.
“Some of these social providers have several thousand homes,” said Mr Thomas. “So there is definitely the capacity for them to engage with the project.”
“Our project is really about trying to find good solutions that help people in the short term,” said Ms Hollinshead.
“We’re looking to set up short term options for them to be able to concentrate on finding work, reconnecting with family and building up some of the skills that they need.”
Under UK-wide immigration policy, asylum seekers in Wales generally have no access to public funds.
However, since the pandemic began in 2020, the Welsh government has stepped in to provide temporary accommodation to refugees and people at risk of homelessness under emergency health legislation.
Now, with the end of the pandemic in sight, concerns are growing about what will happen once these measures are rolled back and the funding dries up.
“There is genuinely a cliff edge now,” said Mr Thomas. “When there is a return to no recourse to public funds, there is going to be quite a crisis across the UK but particularly in Wales.”
