Refugees in Home Office hotels will be given twice as long to find new accommodation before eviction

Exclusive: Grace period for newly granted refugees to extend from 28 days to 56 days next week

A view of the scene outside the Comfort Inn hotel on Belgrave Road in Pimlico, central London, where the Home Office have reportedly asked a group of refugees to be accommodated four to a room (PA)

Refugees living in Home Office hotels will be given twice as long to find accommodation before they are evicted, the Independent has learnt.

The Home Office has extended the grace period that an asylum seeker has to transition from supported housing to their own accommodation from 28 to 56 days. The move is a victory for councils and charities who have been pressing the government for the change.

In an email seen by The Independent, the Home Office has told local authorities that the extension will begin from 9 December. The extension will be in place until June 2025, when the impacts will be re-assessed, the correspondence says.

The 28-day “move-on” period starts when an asylum seeker is given refugee status and has been criticised as being too short, with migrants struggling to find somewhere to live in such a limited time.

Faster decision-making by the Home Office has partly led to a surge in migrants, who have been evicted from Home Office hotels, needing urgent homelessness help from councils.

The government is also rolling out electronic visas, with the deadline for people to change over at the end of December. Officials have said that the extension to the move-on period is due to “increased decision-making and the transition to eVisas”.

The new 56-day deadline will start when an asylum decision letter is issued to a newly granted refugee.

They must then approach their local council for housing help and advice and approach the Department for Work and Pensions to start a universal credit application if they need financial support.

After this, they will be set up with an account to get an electronic visa. The Home Office also aims for new refugees to have more than 28 days of support with access to their eVisa.

The government will also review how the extension works to report in late March next year.

Cllr Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), welcomed the move, saying: “People will have more time to find homes and employment, reducing homelessness and destitution risks.

“This temporary extension of the Move On period from 28 to 56 days, something the LGA has long called for, is positive news for councils, communities and people seeking asylum.”

Steve Smith, CEO of refugee charity Care4Calais, said: “For over a year, new refugees have been trapped in a homelessness crisis. The extension of the move-on period is welcome and will mean, even on a temporary basis, that refugees will enjoy the same homeless rights as every other citizen in England and Wales.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This is a time limited pilot to support local authorities as we clear the asylum backlog and transition to eVisas. Only newly recognised refugees will receive 56 days’ notice to move on from asylum accommodation.

“We have inherited enormous pressures in the asylum system and remain absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels as we ramp up returns of failed asylum seekers.”