Statement on Home Office decision to cut refugee support period to 28 days

Immediate human impact

As of this week, the Home Office has cut refugee support from 56 days to 28 days, in order to cut the bill for hotels. This will force more refugees into homelessness, as even the government’s own systems do not issue the documentation needed for refugees to claim benefits within 28 days.

To apply for Universal Credit and housing support, you need eVisa access and a National Insurance number — both of which are often delayed. And even when applications are made, Universal Credit has a built-in five-week wait. Newly-recognised refugees cannot access benefits, open a bank account, or start work in time. Many will be forced onto the streets, or councils will pay more for temporary accommodation.

Since April, we have seen almost 330 cases — around 60–70 every month — of people from refugee or immigrant backgrounds who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or facing eviction because of their refugee status. We are overstretched.

We are also seeing people, unaware of their rights, refusing unsuitable housing and then being told the local authority has discharged its duty — leaving them at risk of homelessness.

People do not want to live in hotels or hostels, where they feel controlled and cannot cook for themselves or begin to rebuild their lives. Everyone needs a proper home so they can participate in society and contribute. You can’t do that in a hostel or on the street. If over 200,000 Ukrainians could be quietly absorbed into our communities, resettled so that they can work as soon as possible, then surely we can do the same for a fraction of that number who happen also to be refugees, mainly of colour. It shows that rapid resettlement is possible when there’s political will. But why is there solidarity for one group but hostility for another?

Structural failure

While the Home Office cuts hotel costs, the bill will simply be passed to local authorities like Glasgow, already in a housing emergency. Instead of being supported to resettle and contribute through work and taxes, refugees will continue to be blamed for decades of political failure.

The housing emergency is the product of decades of underinvestment in affordable homes, not the presence of people fleeing war or persecution. It affects everyone in our city — from white Scottish households to long-settled minority ethnic communities and newly arrived refugees alike.

For decades, billions have been handed to outsourcing giants to provide accommodation. It was empty money, with no return in terms of social investment. Hotels were meant to be temporary during Covid, but the policy has become entrenched and costly. The real solution is to build homes for everyone — including refugees — so people can resettle, rebuild, and contribute, while reducing reliance on outsourcing giants and easing the pressure on homelessness services.

Glasgow is in a housing emergency. People cannot plan for work or study if they have nowhere to live. The government is tinkering at the edges of a broken system instead of addressing the root cause: the UK’s housing crisis.

Political danger

Refugee and migrant households are too often singled out in ways that reinforce harmful narratives. Far-right groups are already scapegoating these communities, and false narratives can fuel hostility at a time when solidarity and cohesion are urgently needed. Public messaging must reflect the reality: this crisis is political, not demographic.

The contrast is stark: over 200,000 Ukrainians were welcomed, housed, and supported to rebuild their lives, showing that rapid resettlement is possible with political will. Yet refugees who happen to be people of colour are treated with hostility, forced into homelessness, and scapegoated for political failure. This racialised double standard only fuels division and strengthens the far right.

This policy is short-sighted, cruel, and unsustainable. What is needed is long-term investment — building homes for everyone, including refugees — to reduce pressure on homelessness services and bring stability to communities. Not more cuts, outsourcing, scapegoating of refugees, or racialised narratives about who is to blame.

We urge readers to support Stand Up to Racism’s protests against racism and fascism and to contact their MPs, demanding investment in housing that brings hope to communities. Only solidarity and real homes — not scapegoating — can build a fairer society.