Many churches across the Diocese of London testify to seeing a sharp rise in the number of newly recognised refugees finding themselves street homeless this past winter.
In fact, recent London figures show a 234% rise in people rough sleeping who had recently left Home Office asylum accommodation between September 2023 – January 2024.
While every individual having to sleep on the streets is heart-breaking, there are ways that we can respond.
If you have a spare room, there are two different schemes you can get involved in, making a lifechanging difference for those women and men who find themselves on the street.
If you don’t have a spare room, you can spread the word to others about these schemes!
To find out more, we hosted a short webinar, where our friends at Housing Justice provide an introduction to the two different schemes: Hosting and Refugee Lodgings.
You can watch this webinar back here:
Opening Your Home with Housing Justice
What are the key differences between the schemes?
Hosting involves offering a place to someone who is currently navigating the asylum system, while they seek to resolve their case. Guests are those who are destitute, not allowed to work or access benefits. They are provided immigration support and financial assistance through Housing Justice during the hosting; the only expectation on the host is to provide a place to sleep, cooking, and washing facilities for a minimum of 3 months and for up to a year.
Refugee Lodgings involves offering a room to rent to someone who has been granted ‘refugee’ status to remain in the UK, and is evicted from their Home Office accommodation. This scheme bridges the gap whilst they start to settle in the UK, allowing the necessary time to apply for Universal Credit, find a job and somewhere to live for the longer term (this gap is one of the big causes in the rise in street homelessness this winter). Placements are for 6 months under a lodging agreement, and resident landlords receive rent, at the Local Housing Allowance rate.
Aidan, a current host with Housing Justice, shares with us in the webinar his experience and motivations for hosting:
“What you are really doing here is offering somebody a safe place to live, hopefully somewhere they can feel comfortable, for a time when they really need it.”
Aidan has welcomed five guests to date, and offered a remarkable 2,500 nights of accommodation.
Next steps if you are interested in finding out more about Hosting:
- All of the resources on hosting can be found on the Diocese of London hosting webpage here or the Housing Justice webpage Become a Host – Housing Justice.
- Those in London, can contact Ella Gosling at Housing Justice. Ella can talk to you about next steps if you would like to explore becoming a host.
- You could also watch a short video about Aidan’s hosting experience here.
Next steps if you are interested in finding out more about Refugee Lodging:
- All of the resources on Refugee Lodgings can be found on the Housing Justice webpage here.
- Those in London, can contact Joe Rinvolucri at Housing Justice. Joe can talk to you about next steps if you would like to explore becoming a resident landlord.
Don’t have a spare room?
There are other important actions you can take!
- Spread the word about the Housing Justice hosting and lodging scheme.Could you display a poster in your church, or spread the word on social media?The Compassionate Communities Team can send you posters or social media assets.
- Invite one of the Housing Justice team to speak at your church about hosting and lodging.You can contact The Compassionate Communities Team to set this up.
- Pray for more hosts to be found!
