Refugees: Moving on from asylum support housing

What happens when you get refugee status?

If you are granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, you can:

• apply for benefits

• work legally in the UK

• rent from a private landlord

• get homeless help from the council

• open a bank account for your wages or benefits

Get homeless help from the council

Ask a local council for help with housing as soon as you get the Home Office decision letter.

This is called making a homeless application.

The council should start looking into your situation.

Do not leave your asylum support housing yet. You will get another letter with the date that your asylum support housing ends. Contact the council again when you get this letter.

Which council should you apply to?

You can apply to any council.

You might be referred to a different council if you do not have links to the area.

You have links to a council area if:

• you live there in asylum housing

• you start work in the area

• close relatives live there

• you get specialist medical treatment in the area

• you've lived there by choice for 6 months in the last year

• you've lived there by choice for 3 years in the last 5 years

Links to an area are called a 'local connection'.

Most councils have long housing waiting lists. You will probably need to rent privately at first.

London and the south of England have higher rents than other areas.

Emergency housing

You can get emergency housing from the council if you are homeless and either:

• children live with you

• you're pregnant

• you're at risk of domestic abuse

• you're under 21 and were looked after by social services when you were 16 or 17

These things all give you a priority need. This means the council must give you emergency housing if you are homeless. It might be near to where you live now or in another area.

If you are at risk of harm

You could also get emergency housing if something makes you 'vulnerable'. This means you are at much more risk of harm than most other people when homeless.

Find out how to show you could be vulnerable because you're:

• disabled or have a health problem

• a refugee or survivor of modern slavery

If you were under 18 when you claimed asylum

Social services should give you help and advice if:

• you are still under 25

• social services found you somewhere to live when you arrived in the UK

Tell the council's homeless team if you are under 21. They must help with emergency housing.

Find out how social services can help with housing.

If you cannot find anywhere to live

You might find somewhere to stay for a short time in the home of a volunteer. Try these organisations:

• Refugees at Home

• Nightstop - if you are under 25

Even if the council do not have to give you emergency housing, they must still try to stop you becoming homeless. For example, by helping you find a private tenancy.

How to apply for benefits

You can get universal credit (UC) if you have no money or a low income.

This is money to help with food, rent and other living costs.

Apply as soon as you get your refugee status.

It takes at least 5 weeks to get your first UC payment.

You get more money than from asylum support. But you usually have to pay for rent and bills from this money.

More about applying for universal credit.

If you move into a hostel or temporary housing

You might have to apply for housing benefit as well.

Ask support staff or the council if you are not sure which benefits to claim.

What is a national insurance number?

You need a national insurance number to work or claim benefits.

Apply for a national insurance number on GOV.UK if you do not have one.

How to open a bank account

You can usually open a bank account if you have refugee status.

Read our guide on how to open a bank account if you're homeless.

The Refugee Council has a Banking Guide for Refugees. You can read it in English, Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, Pashto and Tigrinya.

Proof of refugee status

You will be asked for proof of your immigration status by:

• the council

• employers

• landlords and letting agents

• other organisations like banks

The council should accept a Home Office letter that says you have refugee status. Other organisations are likely to ask to see your eVisa.

What is an eVisa?

Your eVisa is an online record of your immigration status.

It shows that you have the right to work, claim benefits, rent from a private landlord and get housing help in the UK.

The Home Office should set up your UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) online account. They will:

• give you an eVisa

• send you a UKVI customer number

• tell you how to look at your eVisa on your UKVI account

They should do this within 2 weeks of granting your asylum claim.

How to show your eVisa

You usually have to show your eVisa to prove your immigration status.

View and prove your immigration status on GOV.UK

If you cannot do this, there are other ways to prove you have refugee status.

GOV.UK has more information on how to:

• prove your right to work

• prove your right to rent in England

You do not need to show immigration documents to landlords in Scotland or Wales.