Written question asked by Grant Shapps (Conservative) on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 March 2010. It was answered by John Healey (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Housing: Asylum

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to pages 125 and 126 of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's report on Refugees and asylum seekers: a review from an equality and human rights perspective, whether (a) the Housing Corporation and (b) the Homes and Communities Agency had any role in the provision of accommodation to asylum seekers; and what records his Department holds of the housing associations which (i) provide and (ii) facilitate accommodation for asylum seekers.

Answer: The Housing Corporation did not have a direct role in the provision of housing for asylum seekers. However, the Corporation did fund research and develop a range of policies that aimed to improve conditions for refugee communities and new migrants.Asylum seekers do not have access to public funds and are therefore not entitled to the benefits of social housing. Consequently, the Homes and Communities Agency cannot develop housing for them.However, the HCA can develop homes which refugees (who do have a form of leave which allows them some access to public funds) can access.Information about refugees housed by housing associations is captured in two sets of statistics via the:"1. Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR) which contains information about the number of units intended for refugees, and asylum seekers under the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) contracts:""www.rsrsurvey.co.uk""2. Continuous Recording of Lettings and Sales (CORE) which captures information about new lettings including, since April 2006, where tenants were housed by the Asylum Support Service immediately before their new letting:""https://core.tenantservicesauthority.org""3. Home Office collect figures on the number of asylum applications each year in their "control of immigration" quarterly stats release:""http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html"

Secondary information