Revealed: Squalid conditions in refugee housing
Article published: Wednesday, June 8th 2011
Shocking living standards for some Manchester asylum seekers have been revealed following a Real Radio investigation aided by Mule. Read on to see how a property run by private housing provider Happy Homes UK Ltd has failed to provide adequate housing to some of Manchester’s most vulnerable people…
Filming at the Oaklea flats in Whalley Range by Real Radio reporter Sarah Rogers uncovered serious neglect, with rubbish-strewn corridors, unsecured office rooms containing sensitive personal information including names and addresses, nails over the floor of one room to which children had access and broken glass and bottles in the back garden. The front door to the property was without a lock and residents claim that trespassers have entered the building.
The property consists of 28 flats, with Rhetta Moran of the human rights charity RAPAR telling Real Radio that each family is allotted just one room as 26 women with children are housed there. Residents only had one working washing machine and laundry room between them, and a cramped kitchen. One woman and her family had been housed at Oaklea for nearly a year.
Mule has since learned that Happy Homes were paid just under £13.2 million in the last financial year by the government to house asylum seekers waiting on the outcome of their cases. The company was the 33rd largest supplier of services to the Home Office in 2009/10, and is one of three private businesses contracted to provide asylum accommodation in the North West. In previous years its funding rose from £3million in 2006/07 to £15.6million in 2008/09 according to figures reported to Parliament.
The government body responsible for asylum and immigration, the UK Border Agency (UKBA), is currently facing 18 per cent funding reductions. Cuts are falling on asylum seeker housing in response, with the UKBA stating that savings in asylum will partly be achieved by “investing in less expensive accommodation, fine tuning support provision and reducing the backlog.” Nationally, figures obtained by Inside Housing reveal that the UKBA’s provisional accommodation spending is being cut by just over 17 per cent from £164 million in 2010/11 to £135.5 million in 2011/12.
Two weeks ago Happy Homes were in the news after they attempted to evict one resident, disabled asylum seeker Manjeet Kaur, who had her housing support terminated following the refusal of her fresh claim for asylum. The conditions were brought to light following coverage of that case when protesters delayed the eviction, and campaigners report that Kaur has since had her housing support temporarily extended on medical grounds.
Happy Homes were contacted by Real Radio but said they were unable to speak to the press, while the UKBA has told the station that they are looking into the findings.
Richard Goulding
More: Migration and asylum, News
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