Why fully integrated immigration, housing and wraparound support is key for refugees facing homelessness – by Alexa Rice, manager of our Advice project

The refugees and asylum-seekers who seek help from Salusbury World are uniquely vulnerable because of multiple, interlocking barriers that compound risks of homelessness and make mainstream prevention routes so much harder to access. These include insecure immigration status, No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) conditions, language barriers, trauma (often including torture, persecution or trafficking), and very limited understanding of UK housing and welfare systems. Many refugees and asylum-seekers are also socially isolated, with no informal support networks to help them navigate crises. 

In practice, this means the people we support often require multiple appointments over an extended period of time to “unwrap” complex, intertwined problems, for example, resolving immigration status, addressing benefits errors, challenging unlawful exclusions from housing assistance, and stabilising income – before housing options even become viable. Immigration advice is foundational. Without resolving or stabilising immigration status, homelessness prevention work often cannot progress at all. 

This level of sustained, specialist support is not found within services that are – unlike Salusbury World – threshold-driven, time-limited, or focused on single issues. Many people we support are excluded by these services because they do not meet eligibility criteria (e.g. NRPF, unclear recourse, unresolved status), are unable to self-advocate effectively, or disengage due to fear, mistrust of authorities, or language barriers. Others fall outside geographic or “local connection” boundaries: a frequent issue for people dispersed by the asylum system or moving between temporary arrangements. 

The greater the number of different types of specialist support someone needs, the greater the chance that they will get lost in the system. 

Our aim is to provide fully integrated immigration, housing and wraparound support, reducing the risk of refugees and asylum-seekers cycling through crisis services or becoming street homeless. The impact is preventative rather than reactive: stabilising status, income and accommodation before situations deteriorate into the most extreme circumstances. 

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Please get in touch with our director, Sarah Reynolds (sarahreynolds@salusburyworld.org.uk) to discuss other ways to give support and funding.