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Advising refugees, asylum seekers, trafficking survivors and people with discretionary leave and humanitarian protection

This page is for housing advisers. If you are a new arrival please click here for information more relevant to you.

This section looks at common housing problems that asylum seekers and refugees, and other people given leave through the asylum process, may face. It includes some references to relevant case law, and links to the relevant regulations.

For advice for asylum seekers being evicted from hotels, see below.

What are the housing and benefit rights of refugees, etc?

Refugees and people with discretionary leave and humanitarian protection are all eligible for an allocation from the council, to get help if they become homeless and to claim universal credit or housing benefit, without any further requirement that they are habitually resident. They can also get accommodation from housing associations. This applies equally when they have limited or indefinite leave to remain and also when they are waiting for renewal of that leave, as long as they applied before the previous leave ran out. Further information is available about the law on housing and universal credit and housing benefit.

People arriving in the UK on special resettlement programmes

People arriving in the UK on special resettlement programmes may have different rights:

  • The Gateway Protection Programme brings refugees from various parts of the world to the UK with refugee status and indefinite leave to remain and they are eligible for housing and benefits in Scotland (Homeless Class A).
  • The Syrian Resettlement Programme gives selected people from Syria humanitarian protection for five years and they are also eligible for housing and benefits (Homeless Class A or B).
  • Dubs children’, unaccompanied children stranded in Europe and their dependants, get leave via section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (Homeless Class FA)
  • "Calais leave” gives five years leave to remain to people who came to be reunited with family members in the UK as a result of the clearance of the Calais camps between 17th October 2016 and 13th July 2017 (Homeless Class FF).
  • People who left Sudan due to escalating violence that started in April 2023: see the page on limited leave.
  • People who left the Israel/Palestine region due to escalating violence that started in October 2023: see the page on limited leave.
  • People from Ukraine who left due to the Russian invasion – see below.
  • The special programmes for Afghan nationals - see below.

Special arrangements for accommodating asylum seekers are described briefly on the page for refugees and asylum seekers and asylum seeker support is covered on the page on destitution.

People resident in Ukraine who left due to the Russian invasion

People from Ukraine who were resident before 1 January 2022 and who left due to the Russian invasion, or who were resident in the UK after it started, can apply for leave under the Immigration Rules Appendix Ukraine Scheme. This comprises of three different routes:

Leave is usually granted for six months or three years. A person with either kind of leave is eligible for local authority housing and homelessness assistance unless that leave has a has a ‘no public funds’ condition or a condition that the holder must accommodate and support themselves. In Scotland, that person is eligible for a local authority allocation or homelessness assistance under Classes FAA or FAB.

A person who has leave without conditions, was resident in Ukraine before 1 January 2022, and who left due to the Russian invasion is exempt from the habitual residence test and entitled to universal credit/housing benefit. This would include, but is not limited to, a person who falls under class FAA. For further information and the latest news visit our Ukrainian refugees page.

Afghan nationals and family members who need to relocate to the UK

Before 1 July 2025, there were two relocation schemes in operation as a response to the crisis that followed the takeover by the Taliban in August 2021. Both schemes closed on 1 July 2025.

From 15 August 2021 to 30 June 2025 new arrivals under these schemes were granted indefinite leave to remain. There were resettlement programmes for new arrivals, run by some local authorities in cooperation with voluntary sector organisations and the Home Office, to provide reception accommodation and support for four months.

In Scotland, from 16 September 2021 a new Class FD covers both schemes. Class FD also makes provision for anyone else with limited leave not covered by the schemes, but who left Afghanistan in connection with the collapse of the Afghan government in 2021, unless that leave has a ‘no public funds’ condition or was given upon an undertaking by a sponsor (unless their sponsor(s) have died). A person covered by Class FD is entitled to housing and homelessness assistance and is exempt from the habitual residence test for universal credit, state pension credit and/or housing benefit and so is entitled to benefit on arrival.

Survivors of human trafficking or slavery

A person who is a survivor of human trafficking or slavery who has been granted temporary permission to stay (TPS) for that reason is eligible for a housing allocation and homelessness assistance. TPS is a form of limited leave under the immigration rules and Nationality and Borders Act 2022. It is a form of limited leave without a ‘no public funds’ condition so a person who has it is entitled to universal credit/housing benefit. You can find more about TPS here.

People who are stateless with limited leave

A person who has been granted leave (usually five years) as a stateless person and who is habitually resident is entitled to universal credit or housing benefit, to join the council waiting list or help from the local authority if they are homeless under Class FC.

What about the family members of refugees and people seeking asylum, etc?

The family members of a person with protection status are entitled to apply for leave to join them. The kind of leave they get, and the conditions attached to it (e.g. access to public funds), depend on whether the relationship began before their sponsor left their home country to claim asylum (‘pre-flight’) or after they arrived (‘post-flight’).

A person who had a ‘pre-flight’ relationship (partner, dependent child) with their sponsor can apply for family reunion leave to join them (Immigration Rules, Appendix Family Reunion). Family reunion leave usually expires at the same time as their sponsor's leave or otherwise lasts for 30 or 33 months. A person with family reunion leave has the right to work, study and to access public funds.

Family reunion leave is not a form of protection status (different rules applied before 12 April 2023) so a person who has it is not eligible for homelessness assistance and is not considered when the local authority/Housing Executive decides if their sponsor is homeless or in priority need (see Scotland or Northern Ireland). But if the sponsor applies for housing, any family member with family reunion leave is considered when any reasonable preference/priority is given for homelessness because their leave allows access to public funds, see Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 section 20(1A) and section 30(6) and the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988, article 9(6) and Housing Selection Scheme (pdf) rule 24A(1).

A person with family reunion leave is not eligible for universal credit (UC), state pension credit (SPC) or housing benefit (HB) until they are habitually resident (three months after their arrival) – unless they also fall within one of the exempt categories (e.g. Ukraine, Sudan etc.). If the sponsor is on UC or SPC when their partner arrives to join them, they continue to get the single person’s allowance for a further three months (unless the partner is in an exempt category).

If a family member with a ‘post flight’ relationship applies to join their sponsor who left to claim asylum, leave is granted under the ordinary (i.e. non-refugee) rules without access to public funds (Immigration Rules, Appendix FM).

Discrimination against refugees and others with leave

Refugees and others with limited leave to remain often report discrimination against them by housing providers who refuse to deal with their applications until they have indefinite leave to remain, or refuse to house them while they are waiting for a renewal application to be approved. This may be unlawful discrimination and should be challenged.

Benefit problems

If an application for asylum (or discretionary leave, etc.) is finally determined following an appeal to an immigration tribunal the right to benefit only starts from the date the leave is granted (i.e. from the date s/he receives the Home Office decision letter or his/her passport is endorsed) – not from the date of the successful appeal even though the decision of the immigration tribunal means that the grant of leave from the Home Office will inevitably follow.

Refugees and others with limited leave to remain often face delays whilst their claim for UC/HB/CTR is processed. Their claim is dependent on them (or if they have a partner both of them) having applied for or being allocated a national insurance number.

Local connection

In addition to the usual local connections provided by residence, work or family, a person also has a residential local connection with a local authority if s/he was, at any time, provided with asylum support accommodation in that district.

However, this local connection does not apply to any asylum accommodation provided in Scotland because the Scottish legislation assumes that the person did not freely choose to live there themselves. This is explained further in the Code of Guidance on Homelessness (see paragraph 7.13).

No type of local connection is more or less important than any other. For example, if the applicant applies in an area where s/he has a local connection through work or previous residence with a friend, that authority has to deal with the application, even if the applicant has apparently stronger local connections in other areas.

If the application is made in an area where the applicant has no local connection, but s/he does have a connection in two or more other areas, then their wishes should be taken into account (i.e. whether they have a preference) before the referral is made.

So, if a new refugee has no other type of local connection (work, residence in some other form of accommodation, family) then s/he can apply to the Scottish local authority of their choice.

If the applicant was provided with asylum support accommodation in Scotland, and applies as homeless to an English or Welsh authority, and the applicant has no local connection in England, Wales or Scotland, that local authority will have a discretion to provide temporary accommodation for a period to give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to find accommodation (presumably including the option of applying in Scotland).

Problems with asylum support accommodation

A person who has claimed asylum (at a port or airport or in the UK according to the rules on where and how asylum can be claimed) becomes an 'asylum seeker' and remains one until his/her asylum application is finally determined (all appeals resolved). For a new asylum claim, if the applicant says that they have no accommodation and/or support, this will be provided, initially to assess the need (this is called Section 98 support – see ASAP Factsheet 17 (pdf)), and then until the claim ends (called Section 95 support). Section 95 support (see ASAP Factsheet 1 (pdf)) includes accommodation, if needed, on a no-choice basis, provided by contractors to the Home Office and money (at significantly below UK benefit levels) paid via local post offices on a card.

Accommodation for asylum seekers is offered on a no choice basis and supplied by contractors to the Home Office, mostly in areas of lower housing demand. Exceptional circumstances justifying a request for accommodation in a specific area are described in Home Office guidance. Asylum seekers offered tenancies (for example of flats and houses, as opposed to rooms in hostels etc which are more likely to be licences) have restricted rights. Landlords can evict them once the tenancy has ended without getting a court order. In practice, this option is rarely used.

In other respects, asylum support accommodation is subject to the same law and regulation in relation to overcrowding, health and safety, houses in multiple occupation etc as any other accommodation. If the claim for asylum is finally refused, support and accommodation usually ends but the asylum seeker may be able to apply for a restricted form of support – there is more detail on the page on advising destitute migrants. For discussion of the ongoing legal and other issues about the use of hotel and barracks accommodation for asylum seekers, look at the housing rights newsletters.

The Asylum Support Appeals Project has a comprehensive set of useful factsheets on most aspects of the asylum support system. The ASH Project helps asylum seekers report repairs.

Home Office documents on the asylum support system include a guide to the accommodation contracts (pdf) and a statement of requirements (pdf) the contractors must meet.

Evictions from hotels

Asylum seekers whose claims are accepted are being evicted from their Home Office accommodation, often in hotels, at very short notice. This briefing (September, 2023) is for people facing this emergency or who are advising them. It will be updated as more information becomes available.

Further information

The housing practitioners’ guide to integrating people seeking protection and refugees (pdf), published in 2021 by the Scottish Refugee Council and CIH Scotland, is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of housing refugees in Scotland, including coverage of the local connection issue.