🏛️ Council homelessness duty
Council does not require LGBT evidence
If you have received refugee status and are being asked to leave Home Office accommodation, you have the right to apply to the Council as homeless.
The Council assesses your vulnerability. A threat due to your LGBT status is a vulnerability factor. You are not required to provide intimate evidence.
Source: Justlife, «Not Straight, Not Home» (2023) — research on LGBT people in temporary accommodation.
📌 Key deadlines
- 28 days — minimum notice to leave Home Office accommodation after receiving status
- 56 days — the maximum Home Office typically gives
- As soon as you get your decision — apply to the Council as homeless, do not wait until eviction
Source: general practice; confirm your specific deadline with a lawyer.
⚠️ This is general information. Your specific rights and deadlines — confirm with an IAA-regulated lawyer.
🌈 Micro Rainbow — specialist LGBT housing
🌈 Micro Rainbow
Micro Rainbow is a specialist organisation. They provide safe houses for LGBT asylum seekers and refugees in England — LGBT-safe environments with support.
📧 housing@microrainbow.org
⚠️ Regions without coverage: Scotland, Northern Ireland, North East England, Yorkshire & Humber — Micro Rainbow does not operate in these regions (no provider). Source: parliamentary evidence AAC0105.
Contact directly by email — places are limited.
🏠 Stonewall Housing — national helpline
🏠 Stonewall Housing
Stonewall Housing is a charity running the national LGBT housing helpline. They provide advocacy, support, and guidance on supported accommodation. This is not direct emergency housing.
Stonewall Housing helps you understand your rights and find supported accommodation. They do not provide emergency beds directly.
🤝 Other housing organisations
Praxis and Action Foundation
Praxis (London) and Action Foundation (Newcastle) support migrants and asylum seekers with housing.
They do not have a specific LGBT programme but can help with general housing questions for migrants and asylum seekers.
🆘 If you are being threatened in Home Office accommodation
What to do if you are in danger right now
- 999 — if there is immediate danger
- Migrant Help 0808 8010 503 — 24/7 line for asylum seekers; they accept complaints about accommodation conditions
- Galop 0800 999 5428 — LGBT-specific support and advocacy
- Request a transfer to a different accommodation through your caseworker — you can state LGBT grounds
⚠️ This page is information, not immigration advice. For your specific situation, speak with an IAA/SRA/BSB-regulated lawyer.
