The Home Office warned councils against providing Syrian refugees with “luxury” items days before the home secretary, Theresa May, delivered an uncompromising speech limiting the right to claim asylum in Britain.

Local authorities were sent new draft guidance on refugee resettlement in the week before May’s anti-immigration speech on Tuesday, rhetoric that critics said articulates the government’s increasingly hostile attitude towards refugees and asylum seekers.

The Home Office guidance states that councils should not offer white or brown goods that might be deemed nonessential to resettled Syrians as part of the vulnerable persons resettlement scheme. Items that appear not to be allowed include fridges, cookers, radios, computers, TVs and DVDs.

Charities expressed concern, saying that the government should be concentrating on setting minimum standards for all Syrians seeking sanctuary in the UK instead of stating what they should not be allowed. “Child refugees aren’t coming here for our services, they are coming for our protection. We should give it gladly,” said Kirsty McNeill, campaigns director for charity Save the Children.

The head of refugee support at the British Red Cross, Alex Fraser, said that all accommodation provided should afford “dignity and safety”. “People fleeing violence and persecution have been forced to endure the most appalling ordeals, and when they arrive in the UK they should be given the best possible start,” he said.

Lisa Doyle, head of advocacy at the Refugee Council, said: “Resettling refugees in Britain shouldn’t just be about basic survival: everyone needs to be given the tools to build a life.”

The government has been accused of an inadequate response to the Syrian refugee crisis in recent months. In early September, under considerable pressure, David Cameron pledged that the UK would accept 20,000 refugees from camps bordering Syria over the next five years, and that the resettlement programme would prioritise vulnerable children and orphans. One local authority, Islington council in north London, confirmed it had received new draft guidance that permitted provision of “food storage, cooking and washing facilities” but it said that accommodation “should not include the provisions of other white goods and brown goods which could be considered luxury items”.

It is not clear whether a council with an unoccupied property that exceeded this specification would have to remove offending items before using it to house refugees.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said the guidance was sent to local authorities participating in the vulnerable persons resettlement scheme , setting out their responsibilities, adding that the guidance had been in place since 2014. They added: “The guidance sets out that local authorities can provide food storage, cooking and washing facilities, including a fridge, cooker and toaster. Not included under the criteria ‘other white goods or brown goods’, are TVs, DVD players or any other electrical entertainment appliances.”