Since September 2015 Housing Justice have run a Hosting Project for destitute asylum seekers in London.
If you are interested in becoming a host, check out our Get Involved – Become a Host page.
Current Status
The hosting project continues to provide safe accommodation for a number of guests who otherwise have no entitlement to housing.
Housing Justice is taking referrals from Winter Night Shelters or projects providing overnight accommodation to rough sleepers in London. To make a referral or enquiry, please contact Jenna Roberts or Ella Gosling.
Hosting Project in London
The Housing Justice Hosting Project has been operating in London since September 2015. Housing Justice has, however, been co-ordinating the London Hosting Network for many years, which works with a number of hosting projects including Praxis, Sanctuary Hosting, NACCOM, Refugees at Home and the Jesuit Refugee Service among others, accommodating guests with no recourse to public funds.
As part of the unprecedented public response following the front-page pictures in 2015 of five-year-old Aylan Kurdi drowned off the coast of Turkey. Housing Justice and other schemes providing hosting were inundated with phone calls and emails from people who had space in their home and wanted to help.
If people don’t have a spare room but would like to support the project, we encourage donations to our fund which provides guests with £25.00 per week hardship funding if they have no other source of income.
- Over 35,000 nights of hosting have been provided to vulnerable & destitute asylum seekers.
- We have 15 guests currently being hosted.
- There have been more than 70 guests placed since 2017 (some more than once if their first host needed the room back).
- Around 50 people have signed up to host since the project started. Many hosts are no longer available, so we are in need of new hosts to join our network.
- 37 people have moved on successfully from hosts, either to NASS accommodation, Private-rented sector, friends and family or other longer-term accommodation.
Immigration Advice for Guests in the WNS Network
The Housing Justice Hosting Project is partnered with The Cardinal Hume Centre to offer free, accredited Immigration Advice to non-UK national guests supported by projects in the WNS Network.
We facilitate referrals from WNS projects, with over 70% of people being offered further support with their case from Cardinal Hume’s dedicated team of solicitors and immigration advisors.
Working towards routes out of homelessness
Resolving immigration issues can broaden the options available for a person’s move-on plan.
For Non EEA Nationals: having a solicitor assigned to a case improves the chance of successful hosting scheme referrals, and eligibility for Section 4 support. If leave is granted this will give the right to work and may also lead to the right to benefits.
For EEA Nationals: being granted Pre-settled Status will safeguard the right to live and work in the UK following Brexit, and lead onto Settled Status. Having Settled Status gives the right to continue to live and work in the UK but also gives the right to benefits.
Please contact the Hosting Project Manager, Jenna Roberts who can assist with further information and next steps.
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