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The Newly-Recognised Refugees Most at Risk of Homelessness in England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2020

LAVINIA MITTON Open the ORCID record for LAVINIA MITTON [Opens in a new window]
LAVINIA MITTON*
Affiliation:
School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NF email: l.mitton@kent.ac.uk
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Abstract

The contribution of this paper is to analyse statistical data to assess whether homelessness among people who have recently been granted refugee status in England is concentrated amongst particular groups of these refugees. The methodology was quantitative analysis using logistic regression of the Home Office’s Survey of New Refugees (SNR), which they carried out in 2005-7. We tested the relative role played by pre-migration demographic factors, post-migration life experience factors, and government immigration policy in accounting for patterns found, and drew on literature to interpret the meaning of our statistical results. Our analysis clearly suggests that refugee and asylum policy contribute to homelessness among newly-recognised refugees. This interpretation is supported by the qualitative evidence from services providing assistance to refugees, and evidence put to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees (2017). Action to address the housing problems of refugees moving on from accommodation provided for asylum seekers should be considered a high policy priority, albeit that associations between homelessness, household size, and age also present intervention opportunities.

Keywords

RefugeeshousinghomelessnessEnglandintegrationSurvey of New Refugees
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 59 - 78
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2020

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