Refuge & Housing in the UK

Lead researcher

• Anna Lindley, Reader, SOAS Department of Development Studies 

Partners

• Greater London Authority; No Accommodation Network; Refugees in Effective and Active Partnership (London project)
• Asylum Welcome (Oxford project)
• Tai Pawb (Wales evaluation)

Funders

• ESRC Creating Opportunities Through Innovation Fellowship Scheme (London project)
• SOAS Impact & Knowledge Exchange Fund, ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (Oxford project)
• Tai Pawb, part of Comic Relief-funded Building a Nation of Sanctuary Consortium (Wales evaluation)

Duration

• London project: 2025-2026
• Oxford project: 2024
• Wales evaluation: 2023

This collection of projects examines pathways to housing for people seeking refuge in the UK, in the context of concerns about housing precarity and homelessness. Research in London has investigated local authorities’ responses to the ‘move-on challenge’ (when people are recognized as refugees but struggle to secure mainstream housing) in order to foster more effective approaches. Work with an NGO in Oxford scoped the situation of newly granted refugees and supported the development of its organizational response. In Wales, evaluation work explored the impacts of a project seeing to expand pathways to housing for sanctuary-seekers.

• Refugee Housing Transitions: Scoping London Local Authority responses to newly granted refugees not in priority need
• Home Beyond the Home Office: Addressing Refugee Move-On Challenges in the Oxford Area
• Mid-term evaluation of Tai Pawb’s project to promote accommodation pathways for sanctuary seekers

The research has highlighted the disproportionate barriers which people face trying to find housing after a status decision, compounded by the rapid eviction timescale and inadequate transitional support. Findings indicate limited coordination between central and local government, under-resourcing of homeless prevention and variation in local authority practices. The research has also identified good practice and innovative initiatives among voluntary and community sector organisations and local authorities, developing navigational and financial support and forging partnerships with housing providers, for more effective transition. 

London project: 

• 2025 ICOP BRIEFING (forthcoming)
• 2025 Refugee Housing Transitions (briefing paper)
• 2025 Refugee Housing Transitions (main report)
• See also: Refugee Housing Transitions - The Housing, Migration & Health Lab 

Oxford project: 

• 2024 Home Beyond the Home Office: Addressing Refugee Move-On Challenges in the Oxford Area (main report)
• 2024 Home Beyond the Home Office? Evicted from asylum accommodation into the UK housing crisis (blog)

Wales evaluation:

• 2023 Housing people seeking sanctuary in Wales (blog)
• 2023 Supporting Sanctuary Seekers Needing Housing in Wales (main report)