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Section 4: Housing of asylum-seekers and their dependants

Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 · 1993 c. 23View on legislation.gov.uk

This provision is repealed
It is retained for historical reference and may not reflect the law currently in force.

REPEALED on 2000-04-03 by Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

The text below is the provision as originally enacted. It is historical and may not include amendments made before this status change. View the enacted source.

If a person (“the applicant”) makes an application under the homelessness legislation for accommodation or assistance in obtaining accommodation and the housing authority who are dealing with his case are satisfied—

that he is an asylum-seeker or the dependant of an asylum-seeker, and
that he has or has available for his occupation any accommodation, however temporary, which it would be reasonable for him to occupy,

nothing in the homelessness legislation shall require the housing authority to secure that accommodation is made available for his occupation.

In determining for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above whether it would be reasonable for the applicant to occupy accommodation, regard may be had to the general circumstances prevailing in relation to housing in the district of the housing authority who are dealing with the applicant’s case.

Where, on an application made as mentioned in subsection (1) above, the housing authority are satisfied that the applicant is an asylum-seeker or the dependant of an asylum-seeker, but are not satisfied as mentioned in paragraph (b) of that subsection, then, subject to subsection (4) below,—

any duty under the homelessness legislation to secure that accommodation is made available for the applicant’s occupation shall not continue after he ceases to be an asylum-seeker or a dependant of an asylum-seeker; and
accordingly, so long as the applicant remains an asylum-seeker or the dependant of an asylum-seeker, any need of his for accommodation shall be regarded as temporary only.

If, immediately before he ceases to be an asylum-seeker or the dependant of an asylum-seeker, the applicant is occupying accommodation (whether temporary or not) made available in pursuance of the homelessness legislation, that legislation shall apply as if, at that time—

he were not occupying that accommodation; and
he had made an application under that legislation for accommodation or assistance in obtaining accommodation to the housing authority who secured that accommodation was made available.

Schedule 1 to this Act (which makes supplementary provision with respect to housing of asylum-seekers and their dependants) shall have effect.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.