Government to take away licensing necessities for landlords housing asylum seekers
T
he Government is planning to briefly take away licencing necessities for asylum seeker lodging because it makes an attempt to maneuver hundreds out of inns, in a transfer critics have warned will put their security in danger.The modifications, first reported within the Guardian, would permit landlords to accommodate asylum seekers for 2 years with out getting the property recognised as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO).
The paper reported the plans would create exemptions from rules governing electrical security and minimal room sizes in such lodging.
By briefly eradicating this licensing requirement, we can purchase extra appropriate long-term lodging whereas persevering with to fulfill our authorized obligation of care
Housing minister Felicity Buchan informed the Commons the Government had laid secondary laws as “part of a broader suite of measures that the Home Office is implementing” to “speed up” the shifting of asylum seekers out of inns.
Almost 50,000 persons are presently in inns on prime of roughly 57,000 in long-standing asylum lodging.
Labour MPs condemned the plans, with Kim Leadbeater branding the statutory instrument “another clear example of the utter mess” the Government have made from the immigration system and Matthew Pennycook warning it might imply “no minimum standards whatsoever” apply to asylum housing.
Mr Pennycook stated: “Of course it will be cheaper to house asylum seekers in accommodation without gas safety certificates, without safe electrical appliances and furniture, without working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and without shared amenity facilities that meet minimum standards.”
The Guardian quoted Mary Atkinson, campaigns and community supervisor on the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, as saying: “Without HMO licences, already traumatised people will be at risk of living in places that are unfit for human habitation.”
The plans might be voted on as quickly as Wednesday, which can in any other case be dominated by the publication of the Government’s long-awaited rental reforms to abolish so-called ‘no fault’ evictions.
A Government spokesman stated: “The use of expensive hotels to house the unprecedented number of asylum seekers crossing the Channel is unacceptable and must end.
“By temporarily removing this licensing requirement, we will be able to acquire more suitable long-term accommodation while continuing to meet our legal duty of care.
“This will not compromise standards and all properties will be independently inspected for quality to ensure they continue to meet national housing quality requirements.”