UK to let communities and universities sponsor refugees from Autumn 2026

Community groups and universities will be able to sponsor refugees to resettle in Britain from this autumn, with the first arrivals expected in Autumn 2027.

The plans were set out by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Tuesday (30 June) as part of a wider overhaul of the asylum system, to be delivered through the Immigration and Asylum Bill confirmed in the King’s Speech.

Applications for organisations to act as sponsors will open in the autumn, the Home Office said. A refugee work route, allowing employers to sponsor refugees, is expected to open next year.

How the sponsorship routes will work

The new model is built around three sponsor types:

• Community sponsorship: A new scheme allowing communities to sponsor refugees to resettle in their area, taking responsibility for housing, integration and supporting them into work.
• University sponsorship: Trusted universities will be able to directly sponsor refugees through a study route.
• Employer sponsorship: A refugee work route expected to open next year, letting employers sponsor refugees.

The named community sponsorship model will sit outside the existing UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) and run at a much higher capacity once established.

At present, the Home Office said, only a small number of refugees are sponsored in communities under the UKRS, with the majority supported by councils.

The Canadian model

The scheme draws on Canada’s community sponsorship programme, which has operated since 1979.

According to the Home Office, the Canadian system has resettled almost 400,000 refugees, with 70% of sponsored refugees finding work within a year – 30% higher than those resettled through government schemes.

It also builds on the UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme. More than 270,000 Ukrainians have been welcomed into local communities since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Controls and checks

The Home Office said it would retain full control over who can act as a sponsor, working with accredited “lead sponsors” that must be organisations.

All arrivals will face biometric, criminality and health checks, and refugee status will be determined in partnership with the UNHCR.

Numbers will start small and build over time as public confidence is restored, the department said.

Mahmood added that the goal was to build a system that lasts. “Britain has always offered sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution. But this system only survives if the public trusts that it is fair, controlled, and not open to abuse,” she said.

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