2nd opinion: Wasted potential

Goodwill to all is part and parcel of Christmas; so is sparing a thought for the less fortunate. As globalisation and localised conflict continue to cause international displacement and migration, the flow of asylum seekers coming to this country also continues. They bring with them a mixture of resilience, energy, willingness to work and much-needed skills, but many end up in the category of "less fortunate".

Last year slightly more than 70,000 households claimed asylum in this country; half of them will be allowed to settle permanently in the UK. Before 1999, most refugees chose to settle among their communities in London. Since the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act, asylum seekers are being dispersed around the country, usually to low-demand areas. This means new communities are bound to emerge, sometimes in previously mono-cultural areas. A fifth of the roughly 50,000 refugee households that are currently in the care of NASS (the Home Office unit established to administer refugee dispersal) are settled in the Yorkshire and Humberside area, one of the country's largest dispersal regions.

With this in mind, a recent HACT study, Between NASS and a Hard Place, explored the level of relevant community development initiatives and broad levels of housing need and provision among refugee communities in Yorkshire and Humberside.

The study's key message is that dispersal arrangements have been made in a policy vacuum. The Home Office's refugee integration strategy seeks to develop refugees' potential and encourage their settlement throughout the country. The strategy states that housing and community development underpin other aspects of settlement and integration. But relevant policy areas, such as community cohesion, neighbourhood renewal, market renewal and strategies to tackle homelessness, have barely touched on this agenda so far.

Beyond filling empties, the system is not effectively meeting its broader objective of longer-term settlement away from areas of high housing pressure in the South-east. All too often asylum seekers are left facing harassment in deprived areas where services are overstretched and insensitive to specific needs. Given the numbers and diversity of the newly emerging communities – 104 different nationalities are currently placed in the Yorkshire and Humberside region – it's little wonder many return to London, where refugees still form a large proportion of the official and "hidden" homeless.

"Guesstimates" of the number of refugees who may need housing in a dispersal area are crude, and access to housing woefully inadequate. Ironically, once asylum seekers are given a positive decision by the Home Office, they face a housing crisis. The otherwise standard 28-day notice period is far too short within the context of overlapping bureaucratic systems that are not geared up to provide culturally appropriate access to and targeted services for these newly emerging communities. Not surprisingly, two years into the dispersal system, in some areas refugees now make up the largest proportion of registered homeless people.

But the study also found evidence of some very positive initiatives, and of refugee communities not only playing a critical part in holding the rather inadequate system together, but also being a force for renewal in some deprived areas.

So, what can housing providers in other areas do to tap into this force for renewal?

New communities have been a force for renewal in some deprived areas; housing providers can tap into this energy

Ensure you identify and respond to the needs of newly emerging communities within your race and housing strategy.

Get a copy of your local consortium's integration strategy; email colleagues for ideas as to how you can support this.

Consider entering the second round of NASS contracts – discussions start in 2003 – or subcontracting to RSL-NASS providers.

Provide access to move-on housing, possibly even using your asset base to develop schemes at market rent as an alternative to the private sector.

Make access to existing provision easier, and not just housing but work and training schemes as well.

Aim social investment at newly emerging communities by recognising and resourcing the role of refugee community organisations. For example, provide a space to meet, an office or other facilities, contract interpreting and support services or pass over management of some properties.

Take a public lead on welcoming refugees into the area and promoting positive images.