The government wants to lift the permit requirement for landlords accommodating asylum seekers
The government plans to temporarily lift permit requirements for housing asylum seekers as it seeks to relocate thousands from hotels. Critics warn that the move will jeopardize their security.
The changes would allow landlords to accommodate asylum seekers for two years without the property being recognized as a house in multiple occupation (HMO).
The Guardian reported that the plans would include exceptions to electrical safety and minimum room size regulations in such shelters.
The temporary waiver of this permit requirement allows us to acquire more suitable accommodation over the long term while continuing to meet our legal duty of care
Housing Secretary Felicity Buchan told the House of Commons that the government had enacted secondary legislation to “speed up” the eviction of asylum seekers from hotels as “part of a wider range of measures being implemented by the Home Office”.
There are currently almost 50,000 people in hotels, plus around 57,000 in long-term asylum accommodation.
Labor MPs condemned the plans. Kim Leadbeater called the legal instrument “another clear example of the complete mess” the government has made in the immigration system, and Matthew Pennycook warned it would mean “no minimum standards at all” for asylum accommodation.
Mr Pennycook said: “Clearly it will be cheaper to house asylum seekers in accommodation without gas safety certificates, without safe electrical appliances and furniture, without working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and without community facilities that meet minimum standards.”
The Guardian quoted Mary Atkinson, campaign and network manager at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, as saying: “Without HMO licences, already traumatized people are at risk of living in places unsuitable for human habitation.”
The plans could be approved as early as Wednesday, which will otherwise be marked by the release of the government’s long-awaited rent reforms to end so-called “no-fault” evictions.
A government spokesman said: “The use of expensive hotels to accommodate the unprecedented number of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel is unacceptable and must end.”
“By temporarily removing this permit requirement, we will be able to acquire more suitable housing over the long term while continuing to meet our legal duty of care.
“This will not affect standards and all properties will be subject to an independent quality check to ensure they continue to meet national housing quality requirements.”
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/government-hmo-home-office-matthew-pennycook-mps-b1081608.html The government wants to lift the permit requirement for landlords accommodating asylum seekers
