Council calls for asylum seekers' housing support

Hillingdon Council said there had been a significant increase in rough sleeping referrals

A west London council is calling for more government funding to support asylum seekers, as it struggles to accommodate more than double the national threshold.

Hillingdon has a much higher number than average partly because of the proliferation of hotels near Heathrow Airport - once asylum seekers are placed in the buildings the responsibility for them passes to the local council.

The borough said it was proud of its work in providing sanctuary, but it needed more money to support the 3,000 asylum seekers it currently houses.

The Home Office has said it "remains committed to working closely with local authorities to work towards a fair and equitable spread of accommodation".

Work is taking place in a block in Hillingdon to provide temporary accommodation

Councillors have estimated a funding shortfall of approximately £5m over the past financial year, leaving residents to foot the bill.

Steve Tuckwell, cabinet member for planning, housing and growth, showed BBC London a newly refurbished temporary accommodation block in the borough.

He said the numbers of people it needed to house was "a huge burden and comes at a cost to the Hillingdon tax payer".

Steve Tuckwell, Hillingdon Council's cabinet member for Planning, Housing and Growth

Susanne Carter-Penrose is head of housing needs at Hillingdon Council

Some asylum seekers are deemed ineligible for housing support after leaving hotel accommodation - and as a result the council said there had been "a significant increase" in rough sleeping.

The number of referrals to Street Link has grown, with "tented communities" that have sprung up at several locations, including under bridges.

Susanne Carter-Penrose, Hillingdon Council's head of housing needs, said: "Our rough sleeping numbers are increasing because they're impacted upon by the Home Office's evictions from hotels."

She added: "We can't help everybody...and [some] end up rough sleeping, unfortunately."

Joe Devine from the homeless charity Thames Reach

Not too far away from the newly-repurposed temporary accommodation block, BBC London met Joe Devine from Thames Reach, a London-based charity which helps those experiencing homelessness.

He and his colleagues were doing outreach work at a park in Hillingdon, where an encampment of asylum seekers were living in tents.

He said they come out to engage with people who are sleeping rough, and try to help them into temporary - or other appropriate - accommodation.

He added: "We can then work to address whatever support needs they might have."

London Councils, the body representing London's boroughs, said asylum accommodation pressures "are felt by boroughs across the capital and are especially acute in port authorities like Hillingdon".

The group said it welcomed the government's recent announcement of asylum grant funding for boroughs this financial year.

The payment will see each local authority accommodating asylum seekers on 30 March 2025 receive a £1,200 payment per asylum seeker in all accommodation types.

An encampment of tents in a Hillingdon park where asylum seekers are living

However, London Councils has said more funding is needed – especially considering high housing costs in the capital.

The group added it "hoped to work with the government" to develop a multi-year funding package for asylum and resettlement.

Any solution would have to "take account of London's rising homelessness pressures... in the context of extreme pressures facing London boroughs' finances".

It said it estimated a funding shortfall "of at least £500m this year, across all services".

A Home Office spokesperson said: "This government inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed, wasting millions in taxpayer money.

"We are immediately speeding up decisions and increasing returns so we can end the use of hotels and save the taxpayer £4bn by 2026."