The Government has confirmed the end of the asylum accommodation move-on pilot and a new revised move-on period of 42 days. This blog from Homeless Link’s Policy Team outlines what we know so far. For more detail on the background of the pilot, you can read last month’s blog.
Update on move-on period
The previous version of the 56-day pilot was extended slightly again, but concluded on 8th March 2026.
Home Office Ministers have decided, from 9th March 2026, to set the notice period for all individuals granted leave exiting the asylum accommodation estate at 42 days, from the point they are notified of a positive asylum decision.
Individuals will continue to receive a minimum of 28 days to move on from when they are notified that their asylum support is being discontinued in their asylum support discontinuation letter.
This policy will apply to individuals granted leave on or after 9 March 2026. The policy will not apply to individuals who are already within the notice period and those for whom support has already been discontinued.
The Home Office have also said that, where necessary, support may be extended. Requests will be considered ‘on a case-by-case basis’ and ‘will only be granted in limited circumstances where necessary’.
Further information on requesting extensions or reinstatements of support can be found in published guidance on GOV.UK.
The Home Office has also stated that the evaluation report of the 56-day pilot will be published on the Government website in Spring 2026.
Discretionary extensions
As a result of DPG’s successful legal case, the Home Office accepted that it has broad discretion under common law to extend asylum support beyond the period set out in secondary legislation.
The guidance on Ceasing Section 95 Support has been updated to reflect that, beyond the pilot:
- extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis
- discretion may be exercised where an individual faces imminent street homelessness
- where support is extended or reinstated on this basis, a key factor will often be whether the individual has made reasonable efforts to secure accommodation and/or support from other sources.
DPG will be hosting training on submitting evidence and extension requests in the near future.
Homeless Link response
It has long been our position that the permanent move-on period for people leaving Home Office accommodation should be at least 56 days, partly to create parity with the Homelessness Reduction Act and to ensure alignment with the Universal Credit process. While we welcome an increase on 28 days, a 42-day move-on period still does not achieve these aims.
We expect that 42-day move-on will mean that exiting asylum accommodation continues to be a substantial driver of rough sleeping and homelessness, particularly in the absence of wider improvements to the support available during that time. We will be monitoring the impact of this change to inform further representations to the Government. If you are seeing the impact in your service, please let Alex know using the details below.
We continue to call on the Government to publish the independent pilot evaluation and apply its findings to the move-on process. To have set a new move-on period before the evaluation has been published is contrary to commitments previously made by the Government.
Wider context
These decisions come at the same time as the Government has set out its plans to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping – and specifically to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this parliament – in the National Plan to End Homelessness. It also comes as levels of rough sleeping have now reached the highest level ever recorded, with 25% of those people recorded sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2025 being non-UK nationals, and the largest percentage increase (10%) being from those from outside the EU and UK.
We are very concerned that the Government will not be able to realise its ambitions to end homelessness if these efforts are continually counteracted by Home Office policies on immigration and asylum.
The Government has also set out a number of other proposals for reform to the asylum and immigration systems, through the November 2025 policy paper ‘Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy’, the November 2025 statement and consultation on ‘earned settlement’, and a recent written statement. These proposed changes are also likely to increase destitution, homelessness and rough sleeping.
Homeless Link has been making representations to the Government on the likely impact of these changes on levels of homelessness and has submitted evidence to a number of relevant consultations. The Policy Team will soon share a summary of the evidence we have submitted, including an analysis of the proposed changes and their implications for homelessness. This will be available on the Homeless Link website.
