If you do not have anywhere to live and you have no money to support yourself, you need to tell the Home Office this when you claim asylum. At this point of the legal process, you will be entitled to “asylum support” – housing and a small amount of money – but you will have no choice where in the country you live, unless you have someone who will let you stay in their house.
To begin with, if you have nowhere to live, you will usually be placed in temporary “initial accommodation” by the Home Office. This is usually a hostel with other people seeking asylum. You should be provided with food, and a small amount of money for essential living expenses.
Next, after some days, weeks, or sometimes months, you will be moved to (“dispersed”) to new accommodation, usually a flat or shared house, somewhere else in the country. You will now qualify for what is known as “Section 95 support”, which is housing plus approximately £37 per week for each person.
You do not have any choice about where in the UK you are housed. You can be dispersed to anywhere in the UK (though usually not London and the south-east of England).
Now read the problem cards below. Discuss with a friend (or have a think if you’re doing this on your own) what you might be able to do in this situation. When you have finished discussing/thinking, click to reveal a suggested action.
⚠️ Problem card
You have applied for asylum accommodation from the Home Office because you don’t have anywhere to live. You are placed in initial accommodation, then dispersed to a shared flat in a town where you don’t know anyone.
Ask other people in your accommodation about local support groups. In every town or city where people are dispersed to, there is a local support group or service provider. They usually run social events, activities and sometimes help people with problems with their accommodation, legal situation and other issues.
⚠️ Problem card
Someone in initial asylum accommodation has told you that you are entitled to a lawyer for free but you don’t know how to find one.
When you have been dispersed out of initial accommodation, ask a local support group for a list of local “legal aid” lawyers or who they can recommend. If you do not have money to pay for a lawyer, you should be entitled to a free legal aid lawyer. Almost everybody without the money to pay for a private lawyer is able to get a legal aid lawyer to represent them at this stage of the asylum process – it becomes harder later on, such as after a negative decision from the Home Office.
Beware of people coming to initial accommodation and other asylum accommodation trying to recommend lawyers – try and ask a local support group if that law firm is any good before signing up with them.
You identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex (LGBTQI) and are experiencing harassment in your dispersal accommodation based on this.
Any forms of discrimination against LGBTQI people (including verbal or physical abuse, name calling, intimidation) are considered “hate crimes” in the UK. You are entitled to contact your housing officer or accommodation manager and report anyone engaging in such actions against you.
If you do not feel you can do this, contact an LGBTQI support organisation and speak to them about your options.
⚠️ Problem card
You do not feel comfortable, as a woman, having a male housing officer in your asylum accommodation.
You can request a female housing officer, or discuss with your housing provider the importance of having your housing officer knock before entering and informing you in advance before undertaking work in the house whilst you are away/out.
⚠️ Problem card
You are experiencing ongoing violence from your partner, but did not disclose this prior to dispersal.
You should contact a local or national domestic violence helpline and gain specialist advice. It may be that you are advised to disclose this to the housing agency or even the police. Where possible, you should keep in contact with support organisations and discuss the best options with them to ensure your safety and wellbeing.
⚠️ Problem card
After you have had your screening interview and been dispersed, you are being made to wait many months for your asylum interview, and don’t even have a date for it yet.
For many people, waiting is one of the most stressful parts of the asylum system. Long periods of time can go by, making people feel uncertain about the future.
Although there is no simple solution, some tactics can help whilst waiting for the outcome of a claim. You may want to enrol in some form of education or volunteering, or get involved with asylum and refugee support organisations. This can help counteract feelings of isolation or exclusion, and also helps make sure people know who and where you are in case you are refused at a later point, or even detained. That way, your community can help organise to support you.
