Britain to allow poverty-stricken Hong Kong BN(O) holders to apply for housing support from this month
- New regulations allowing some holders of the BN(O) visa in Britain to access housing support take effect on June 29
- Queues for social housing are long in Britain, with some of England’s more than 1 million hopefuls already waiting years
The new regulations for accessing housing support – taking effect on June 29 – expand on earlier changes to immigration rules permitting destitute BN(O) holders to apply for access to public funds in Britain through a change in their visa conditions.
In a statement to the Post, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said BN(O) holders who successfully had their visa conditions changed would “still need to apply for social housing in the same way as anyone else”.
“They would be placed on a waiting list and the waiting time would depend on their priority and the pressure on social housing in that area,” it said.
Waiting lists for social housing in the country are long, with more than 1 million people in England already in line, according to the British charity Shelter. Some have been waiting years.
Immigration specialist Antonia Grant, of Bowers Law, called the provision “very generous”, and one that was offered to relatively few categories of newcomers.