They say that the current criminal liability for landlords breaching HMO standards will not apply to Home Office accommodation contractors so there will be less incentive for them to comply with HMO rules. The legal documents describe government claims to maintain standards by means of their accommodation contracts as “nonsensical” and add that the only way ditching current standards can help government is by allowing the home secretary to acquire and use cheaper properties that do not meet mandatory standards on room size, facilities and minimum safety standards. Lawyers add that the justification for exempting asylum seekers from HMO safeguards, which is that the government wants to speed up access to HMO accommodation for asylum seekers, is “irrational” as it is possible to accommodate people in an HMO while a licence application is pending. Lawyers argue that there is no evidence the home secretary has carried out any sort of “careful investigation” into whether the new draft regulations provide safe and appropriate accommodation for asylum seekers. In legal documents seen by the Guardian, lawyers representing the three families say that any measure to reduce minimum regulatory protection requires “justification and by careful investigation” as many asylum seekers are vulnerable and have experienced trauma. The rules would allow them to house asylum seekers for two years without obtaining a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence, a standard requirement for any landlord renting to more than one household in a single property. The changes, which were confirmed by the government in a statutory instrument at the end of March, exempt landlords from regulations governing everything from electrical safety to minimum room sizes.Īccording to the statutory instrument, landlords of asylum seekers in England and Wales would no longer have to register with local authorities. The government has pledged to end hotel use for asylum seekers and instead provide cheaper accommodation.
Huge backlogs in the asylum processing system have led to more than 50,000 asylum seekers being housed in hotels across the country, at a cost of £6m a day. The legal action calls on government – both the home secretary, Suella Braverman, and the levelling up, housing and communities secretary, Michael Gove – to withdraw or suspend the draft regulations pending further inquiry into their impact. Lawyers representing the families have called the new rules “a charter for unscrupulous landlords”.
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