When Protection Meets Destitution: Understanding Refugee Homelessness
Written by Y-PERN Policy Fellow Pratichi Chaterjee and fellow University of Huddersfield colleague Professor of Housing and Communities Phil Brown.
Homelessness among newly recognised refugees is accelerating at a rate that should alarm anyone working in housing, migration or local government. Our report explains why – and what can be done about it.
The report reveals how national asylum and immigration policies intersect with a failing housing system to create predictable pathways into destitution at the very moment people need stability and support. We trace the structural forces driving this crisis, focusing on the critical post-decision period that remains largely invisible in public debate.
The evidence is stark. In Yorkshire and Humber, statutory homelessness among new refugees surged by over 170% in a single year.
But this is not a story of overwhelming numbers. It is a story of systemic design failure: abrupt move-on deadlines, fragmented institutional responsibilities, welfare gaps, employment barriers, and entrenched discrimination in the rental market.
The Real Problem
Some will argue the solution is fewer asylum grants. The evidence points elsewhere. Refugee homelessness stems from how the system operates, not how many people it processes. Short transition windows, misaligned immigration and housing procedures, chronic underinvestment in social housing, and a rental market under acute pressure combine to manufacture crisis. Reducing refugee recognition will not build a single home or ease the burden on local authorities. What changes outcomes is coordinated planning, early intervention, and dismantling barriers to employment and housing.
Why Now
We are publishing this work because local authorities, support services and communities face converging pressures: unprecedented demand, austerity’s enduring damage, severe housing shortages, and rising hostility toward asylum seekers. Without clarity about where the system fails and where prevention is achievable, these trends will intensify.
This report offers a rigorous analysis of the transition points that determine outcomes. It identifies where coordinated action is most urgent and proposes practical reforms that would reduce homelessness, strengthen integration, and deliver a more humane and effective approach across the UK.
View the report: Navigating Statutory Homelessness Support: Impacts of Asylum and Refugee Policy
