Asylum-seekers and housing rights

In this post, I have decided not to publicise or hyperlink to news or media stories but I have become aware of certain aspirational politicians within certain parties who are seeking to pinpoint the waiting times for social housing on to asylum-seekers and other persons from abroad.  As a point of information, and as a matter of law, that simply is unlikely to happen.  The law is really complicated here but by way of summary:

• Asylum-seekers are generally not eligible for social housing – an entirely different scheme applies to them which is run by the Home Office and has resulted in the use of the worst, not fit for purpose accommodation and some loosely called “hotels”;
• other persons from abroad who are subject to immigration control are also excluded unless with certain tightly controlled and relatively specific exempt groups; and,
• even if not subject to immigration control and having a right to reside, an applicant must be habitually resident in the UK.  Even that requires qualification in relation to people with pre-settled status post-Brexit but that is more complex and subject to challenge.

For actual data, readers are referred to the Stats Wales pages and Shelter Cymru’s Waiting for a Home and particularly the data appendices at pp 18-21.

As regards homelessness, the rules about persons from abroad who are exempt are in the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) Wales Regulations 2014, as amended (“the regulations”).  They are, in fact, more restrictive than the rules applying in England.  Even if they are brought back in to scope by the regs, eligible applicants subject to immigration control (eg where they have been granted refugee status) will have ineligible applicants in their household disregarded in determining homelessness and priority need: Housing (Wales) Act 2014, Sch 2, para 1(6); and, an eligible applicant not subject to immigration control can rely on ineligible applicants in their household but they are called “restricted cases” and generally can only be made an offer of private rented housing: Housing (Wales) Act 2014, s 26

As regards social housing allocation, the regulations similarly apply, with some tweaks and the rules have similar tweaks in relation to people ineligible joined to applications.

So – and they know who they are – I would like to ask people who perpetrate misrepresentations to grow up and acknowledge the law.  The problem lies in the undersupply of social housing which has long roots and cannot be attributed in any way to immigration policy.