A UK council has warned the Government that planned overhauls of the migration system could cause a surge in homelessness and heap additional pressure on local services. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood outlined a shake-up of the migration system in November, changing the way migrants can apply for settled status and proposing the end of a legal duty to provide asylum seekers with financial and housing support.

Under the proposed changes, the 1.35 million legal migrants already in the country could be forced to wait longer for settled status, with plans to fast-track them or make them wait for up to 20 years depending on their “contributions” to the UK. Labour-run Southwark Council in central London said it is “deeply concerned” about the proposals, which deputy leader Jasmine Ali described as the antithesis of a “fair, firm and workable system”.

Ms Ali said: “By extending insecurity and penalising people for needing help, the Government risks driving up child poverty, homelessness and pressure on local services.”

Council leader Sarah King added that the Home Secretary should “consider our call for a fair and inclusive system, rather than one that will entrench a cycle of insecurity and increase the risk of exploitation and homelessness”.

Ms Ali also directly addressed the Government’s planned extension of the wait time before migrants can apply for permanent residency, warning that it would disadvantage parents and carers.

“If [the] Government proceeds, it must be honest about the consequences,” she said, as per Southwark News.

“That means proper transitional arrangements, no retrospective changes, and full new burdens funding for councils.

“Integration works when people have stability – not when insecurity is prolonged.”

Under the plans, people who work in public services or pay a higher level of tax could qualify for settlement after five years, but lower-qualified workers who arrived on health and social care visas during the 2022 “Boris wave” could be forced to wait 15 years.

Meanwhile, those on benefits could have to wait two decades before applying for settlement.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank has also cautioned Ms Mahmood about the consequences of the changes, specifically their impact on the thousands of children who arrived legally in the country.

Marley Morris, associate director for migration trade and communities, aid: “Families who were welcomed to the UK under one set of rules should not have the goalposts moved part way through their journey.

“It’s simply unfair to apply these rules retrospectively. For the 300,000 children affected, this is not an abstract policy change. They face growing up with prolonged insecurity, with many facing new barriers to going to university once they turn 18.

“If the Government is serious about integration and tackling child poverty, it cannot design a system that keeps families and children, many of whom will eventually become our fellow citizens, in limbo for a decade or more.”