Asylum seekers housed in dirty accommodation that fails to their meet basic needs, finds government report

Home Office accused of 'underplaying' poor treatment of asylum seekers as report shows almost half of asylum properties 'not fit for purpose' or in need of 'urgent' action

Inspectors found examples of accommodation that was dirty and had visible defects including leaks, damp and broken equipment (Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration)

The Home Office has been accused of “underplaying” poor treatment of asylum seekers in a government report which finds people seeking sanctuary in Britain are residing in dirty, unsuitable accommodation that fails to their meet basic needs.

Research by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) states that ministers have been “too accepting” of the limitations of the current system and were failing to cooperate with private providers to improve current conditions.

Since 2012, the Home Office has outsourced the provision of asylum accommodation to private providers Serco, Clearsprings and G4S, and despite widespread criticism of the conditions in the housing, the original five-year contracts were extended in 2017 for another two years.

The new findings show that less than a quarter of asylum properties met contractual standards, while almost half were deemed “not fit for purpose” or in need of “urgent” action.

Inspectors found examples of accommodation that was dirty and had visible defects including leaks, damp, and broken equipment, as well as failing to meet the basic needs of vulnerable groups such as survivors of torture, pregnant women and LGBT+ asylum seekers.

In one property, a converted basement flat used to house a married couple and their three-year old child, inspectors found numerous problems including ventilation, damp, a water leak and noise from the house above, plus a lack of outside space for the child to play.

The child had health issues and inspectors were shown a letter from the NHS which stated that these were caused by the ventilation and damp conditions in the flat.

Another property, used to house seven asylum-seeking mothers with children under two years old, contained broken equipment, window bars – which one resident said made them feel like that they were “in prison” – blocked drains, an infestation of rodents, damp and mould.

It comes after The Independent revealed new research showing asylum-seeking families were being placed in accommodation so dirty it has made children ill and driven some women to self-harm.

Of 43 stakeholders from which the new report gathered evidence, two-thirds focused on poor property standards, with frequent references to defects, damp, dirt and vermin, while almost half referred to the unsuitability of the accommodation provided for vulnerable asylum seekers.

Inspectors said discussions with the Home Office, the providers, NGOs and service users about particular properties revealed how difficult it was to agree on what was “an acceptable standard” of accommodation.

They said the Home Office was not working hard enough to identify, record and share information on the vulnerability of LGBT+ asylum seekers, in large part due to its “hit or miss” recording and sharing of sexual orientation and gender identity information and “inconsistent categorisation of complaints and incidents” by the providers.

The report also found that many pregnant and post-partum asylum seekers were unable to access sinks and sterilisation equipment or facilities to boil water, as well as not being provided with essential equipment such as a cot and facing delays in additional support payments.

The Home Office was unable to say how many pregnant women were in asylum accommodation, which inspectors said was “essential to a proper understanding of whether the present policies and practices are meeting the needs of this particularly vulnerable group, especially in relation to the availability and continuity of medical care”.

In light of the report, chief inspector David Bolt said: “For all its efforts, this inspection found the Home Office too accepting of the limitations of the current contracts and how things are, and too optimistic that the work it has in hand and the new contracts would bring about improvements.”

He added: “While it has accepted all of my recommendations, the Home Office’s formal response looks to underplay the evidence of poor accommodation standards. This is unhelpful when it comes to building trust.”

In response to the report, the Home Office said it had accepted all of the recommendations and had a ”comprehensive action plan” to support customers in raising issues with their accommodation and ensure vulnerable people receive a “more tailored service”.

But Andy Hewett, head of advocacy at the Refugee Council, said he was “deeply concerned” and accused the Home Office of ignoring some of the report’s recommendations.

“While a concrete assurance plan is welcome, as is the recognition by the Home Office that some people have specific needs that should be considered by safeguarding experts, it has ignored the point made about people being routinely placed, with no choice, in the same room or same long-term accommodation as unrelated adults,” he said.

Stephen Hale, chief executive of Refugee Action, said the charity had worked with asylum seeking families “housed in cramp, dark, and damp accommodation far away from the services they need, pregnant women placed in homes without easy access to a bathroom, and parents whose children have to miss out on school because their home is too far from any school places”.

He added: ”We are glad that the Home Office has accepted all of the report’s recommendations and call on them to act with urgency to ensure that people in the asylum system are housed in good quality, appropriate accommodation where they are able to access essential services.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “While this report covers a small sample of the 12,000 properties for asylum seekers, the government is committed to improving the service in the areas the Inspector has highlighted.

“Our comprehensive action plan will support customers in raising issues with their accommodation and ensure vulnerable people receive a more tailored service.

“In addition, we have restructured our routine inspections so that our approach to managing the contracts and accommodation standards is more consistent nationally.”