MPs have slammed the disgraceful state of accommodation for destitute asylum seekers, which has had huge impact on their health and wellbeing

What happens to asylum seekers once they’ve reached the UK? Asylum seekers with no family and friends in the UK, and no means of supporting themselves, are classed as “destitute” and given accommodation through the Home Office.

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In March 2012, the Home Office switched contractual provision of housing from many smaller housing providers to six regional contracts, run by three prime contractors, G4S, Serco and Clearsprings Ready Homes. Each contractor holds two contracts each: Clearsprings was the only firm with previous experience administrating asylum accommodation.

Concerns about the state and quality of asylum accommodation have been raised since the contracts began. A damning report by the Commons public accounts committee, two years after the contracts commenced, said the accommodation provided “has often been unacceptably poor for a very fragile group of individuals and families” adding that the companies had failed to improve quality.

This week, MPs on the home affairs select committee concurred with the 2014 report, stating that the current contract system for asylum accommodation isn’t working and called for major reform. The committee brands the state of some asylum accommodation provided by government contractors a “disgrace” and says it is shameful that very vulnerable people have been placed in these conditions. In addition to the report, advocacy group Migrant Rights compiled the experience of 36 asylum seekers living in asylum accommodation, in Birmingham, uncovering poor health, mental health issues and stress caused by the substandard accommodation.

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Conditions

The majority of destitute asylum seekers live in rooms in shared houses, often in very poor repair. “The house is in ruins. One room is always wet when it rains, so no one sleeps there,” one respondent wrote in the questionnaire. “There was a broken bed. The stove, cooker and boiler were all broken. Tiles were falling off the walls in the bathroom.”

For some respondents, humans weren’t the only inhabitants of the properties. One resident described a “horde of flies because of dead rats in the kitchen, and bed bugs in my room.”

Several other people reported problems with rats and even other creatures: “Ants and worms are coming out of [the] sofa and the walls. It’s very unhygienic.”



Health

Damp is a persistent problem reported in both the Public Accounts Committee report and the respondents to Migrant Voice’s survey. “There are large damp patches on the ceiling and walls – this causes a very strong musky smell,” one woman said. “My baby is suffering from breathing problems. The walls are dirty and very poorly painted.”

Others experienced serious illnesses that were worsened by the poor conditions of their housing. “My room is uncomfortably small and hot. I have cancer and Hepatitis C and my [room] does not cater for [my] needs. I have night sweats normally and living in a hot room makes it worse,” wrote one resident.

Mental health

The link between poor housing and mental health is well-documented. For people with poor mental health, poor housing can exacerbate the issues, and for those who are health, poor housing can actually cause certain mental health problems. Asylum seekers are significantly more likely to suffer from trauma, depression, and several other mental health conditions, having often fled persecution.

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Migrant Voice’s research found that the housing conditions the respondents reported increased both stress and levels of depression. “I am very sad and unhappy,” one woman told Migrant Voice when she was five months pregnant. “I can’t stop crying and I cannot eat because of the mouldy smell. I am scared that I have to raise my child in this way with dirt and vermin.”

Interviewing a young man and middle-aged woman who had fled torture in two different countries, both reported that their accommodation exacerbated and triggered the post-traumatic stress disorder they experienced and that little thought had been given to making the rooms and homes secure for people with complex mental health conditions.

A young Kenyan woman made the point that other occupants mental health problems in turn affected other people due to the confined space: “One of the residents was violent towards me and when I called the housing manager he said that wasn’t his concern and the resident was free to do what he wanted.” she said. “I was very distressed so I called the police and ended up in court because of the person. I was glad that the police got involved since the housing manager was not concerned.”

Recommendations

The home affairs committee report warns some of the premises used by providers as temporary accommodation are substandard and “unfit to house anyone, let alone people who are vulnerable”.

Warning that the brunt of the burden for providing asylum accommodation is borne by local authorities where there is already recognised deprivation and hardship, the report advocates allowing local authorities to have input into where and how asylum seekers are accommodated in local areas. There are 1,042 asylum seekers housed in Bolton and 1,029 in Rochdale, but only 88 housed in Hastings and Rye, the home secretary’s constituency, and none at all in Theresa May’s Maidenhead constituency. MPs want local authorities that have not acted within 12 months to be required by central government to take their fair share.

The complaints process should be made clearer to tenants, and the fact that complaints about standard of accommodation and conduct of contracted staff will not have any bearing on asylum decisions should be made clear to tenants.

Inspections of accommodation should be passed to local authorities, according to the MPs, as the Home Office has shown their compliance regime is not fit for purpose, and more welfare officers should be hired to improve the experience of asylum seekers in contracted accommodation.

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