Recommendation 19

The quality of accommodation is highly variable across the country. While there is clearly accommodation of an acceptable standard, too many asylum seekers continue to be placed in accommodation that is inadequate or deeply unsuitable. The accommodation asylum seekers are housed in should be adequate, and it is unacceptable that significant amounts of taxpayers’ money is being used to house often vulnerable people in sub-standard accommodation. The Home Office is ultimately responsible for ensuring asylum seekers are accommodated appropriately, and to fulfil this responsibility the department must hold providers to account 99 where they fail to deliver the service they are being paid for. We have recommended earlier in this report that the Home Office strengthen its approach to performance management and oversight of these contracts. This is essential to ensure that vulnerable people are housed in adequate conditions. (Conclusion, Paragraph 80) Large sites and former military barracks