Intersecting Crises: Housing and Forced Migration in Oxford

In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we explore the ongoing housing affordability and accessibility crisis in the UK, using the City of Oxford as a case study. Oxford is the least affordable UK city for housing, with average house prices over 15 times the average annual salary (as of 2022). As with much of the UK, the increasing cost of housing combined with a significant shortfall in council housing, puts home ownership out of the reach for many people in Oxford and pushes them into a very competitive rental market. But what does this mean for newcomers to the City? How does this relate to migration and asylum issues?

Housing for asylum seekers in the UK is not controlled by or the responsibility of local councils. Instead it is controlled nationally by the Home Office and through a number of private providers who are tasked with finding accommodation, often in competition with the City Council or private landlords. With Oxford facing a crisis of affordable housing, how does this impact refugee and asylum seekers? How does the system for asylum and housing work in the UK? What has changed in recent times? We explore new government initiatives, such as the notorious Bibby Stockholm barge, and consider where policy might go next.

We welcome Tiger Hills, PhD candidate at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, and a co-founder of the Spatial Action Lab; Dr Hari Reed, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator at Asylum Welcome; and J, a volunteer at Asylum Welcome to this conversation.

Please note: We acknowledge that this is a fast-moving policy area. This episode was pre-recorded in August 2023 and some specific references to policy changes, such as the seven-day notice-to-quit period issued to asylum seekers in August 2023 by the Home Office that we discuss, has since been reversed back to the 28-day period (as of January 2024).