Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will consider adopting the recommendations set out in Refugee Action’s report Laying the Foundations: Making asylum housing work by investing in communities, published in November 2025.

We are actively working with local authorities to develop several potential accommodation models that could ‘pilot’ a more sustainable, flexible and collaborative outcome. These ‘pilot’ models will examine potential alternative accommodation sources – in collaboration with councils – promoting community cohesion and joint initiatives.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), in partnership with the Home Office, is investing millions in a new locally led accommodation model. This funding will support local authorities to make available basic alternative accommodation to be used on a temporary basis to house asylum seekers waiting for their cases to be processed. The ambition is that this investment will leave a lasting legacy of housing for local communities and reduce pressure on local housing markets. MHCLG and the Home Office are committed to continue working closely with devolved governments and local government to co-design this new model, building on the work undertaken to date.

This new funding will complement ongoing Home Office reforms to the asylum accommodation estate, including pilot schemes to repurpose derelict buildings and to develop other community-led alternatives to the use of hotels.