27 Feb Landmark Win Protects Refugees from Street Homelessness

When two newly granted refugees took on the Home Office, they did so not just for themselves but for thousands of others across the UK. Their successful challenge has reshaped a critical policy affecting newly recognised refugees — ensuring that many will now avoid the devastating reality of street homelessness.

For years, charities, NGOs, and local authorities have warned that the “move-on period” — the 28 days given to refugees to leave asylum accommodation once they receive status — is simply too short. Most refugees, previously barred from working or accessing mainstream housing and benefits, are left in an impossible position. Too many have found themselves sleeping rough, including survivors of trafficking and single adult women.

During this test litigation, it emerged that around 1,100 people a week were being evicted from asylum accommodation, yet the Home Office had no system to monitor what happened to them next. The case also revealed serious inconsistencies between the Home Office’s official policies and those operated by its contractor, Migrant Help — including unpublished rules that left refugees street homeless.

The claim challenged four key decisions and failures by the Home Secretary:

1. The sudden pause of a pilot scheme that had doubled the move-on period from 28 to 56 days.
2. The unlawful failure to exercise discretion to extend asylum support.
3. The failure to notify refugees that such discretion even existed or how to apply for
4. The unlawful refusal to extend support in the individual claimants’ cases.

Each of these challenges succeeded.

Following settlement of the claim, it was ordered that;

1. The Home Secretary issue a direction requiring her caseworkers to grant extensions of asylum support for up to 56 days (subject to her wider discretion to extend for longer) where satisfied that an individual otherwise faces imminent street homelessness. This agreement will last until the end of the Pilot, or until the pause to the Pilot is lifted, whichever occurs earlier.

2. The Home Secretary has a wide discretion under the common law to extend asylum support beyond period prescribed in secondary legislation, which she must exercise compatibly with Article 3 ECHR.

3. The Home Secretary amend her Ceasing Section 95 Instruction to clarify that her that her current policy concerning the exercise of the discretion outside the Pilot is that (a) she will exercise the discretion on a case-by-case basis; (b) the discretion may be exercised on the basis that the individual would otherwise face the prospect of imminent street homelessness; (c) where asylum support is extended or reinstated on the basis of imminent street homelessness, the decisive factor will in many cases be whether or not the individual has made reasonable efforts to secure accommodation and/or support from other sources.

4. The Home Secretary modify her Asylum Support Discontinuation Letters to inform new recipients of leave of her discretion to extend support and how it can be invoked; and supply a link to the policy that will be applied.

5. The Home Secretary decisions refusing to extend asylum support in the five cases before the Court were unlawful.

At a hearing before Chamberlain J, the lead judge of the Administrative Court, the Home Secretary was found to have breached her duty of candour in these proceedings and ordered to pay the Claimants’ full costs including, for part of the litigation, costs on an indemnity basis.

The lead claims were led by Deighton Pierce Glynn (DPG) partner, Ahmed Aydeed alongside Megan Smith, Ralitsa Peykova, Natalie Hawes, Megan Hovvels and Sophie Broke.  Counsel instructed by DPG were Laura Dubinsky KC leading Dan Clarke ( both of Doughty Street Chambers) and Sian McGibbon (Landmark Chambers) acting for the lead claimants.

DPG instructed a larger team of Doughty Street barristers who assisted a wider group of individual claimants: Hannah Smith, Michael Spencer, Josh Jackson, Finnian Clarke, Cian Murphy, again all led by Ahmed Aydeed and Laura Dubinsky KC.

Special thanks to the Doughty Street Clerks Rachel Finch and Emily Norman who organised a vital, urgent rota of counsel to obtain urgent relief where required for individual claimants.

The Legal Team worked with front-line organisations, including NACCOM, Care4Calais, Glass Door, CARAS, and RAMFEL, who provided crucial evidence illustrating the widespread harm caused by the short move-on period.

This victory marks an important step in protecting the rights and dignity of refugees in the UK — affirming that newly recognised refugees must be given a fair chance to build their lives safely and securely.

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