Asylum backlog halved and hotel use cut as homelessness cases after leaving accommodation double

Homelessness cases tied to people leaving asylum accommodation more than doubled in the final quarter of 2023, rising from 3,450 between July and September to 7,160 between October and December, according to Institute for Public Policy Research analysis of government figures.

Between 4,000 and 6,000 households now require homelessness assistance each quarter after exiting Home Office housing, the same data show. The IPPR documented individuals becoming homeless immediately upon departure from their accommodation.

The initial asylum backlog has been cut by more than half in the year to March 2026, IPPR analysis of Home Office statistics found, while the number of people housed in hotels fell by roughly a third between late 2025 and March 2026. The think tank described the faster processing as a positive step that reduces uncertainty for applicants.

It added that the same acceleration leaves successful claimants with insufficient time to secure housing, apply for benefits, and notify local authorities before their accommodation ends.

Research from the Centre for Social Justice showed the number of non-UK nationals sleeping rough has increased 92 per cent since 2021. Among people with non-European Union nationalities the figure has risen 396 per cent over the same period. Although overall numbers declined after the fourth quarter of 2023, they have not returned to earlier levels, the IPPR report stated, and conditions that produced the previous spike are re-emerging.

The institute called for a safe move-on guarantee that would give individuals 42 days' notice from the date they are formally required to leave, establish standardised data-sharing with councils, and place specialist immigration advisers inside homelessness services.