Can I take in a Syrian refugee?

It comes as David Cameron unveiled plans to re-settle thousands more refugees from camps in the region. So that’s thousands more people you could potentially put up, right?

Not quite. The prime minister’s announcement is an extension of the Vulnerable Person Protection Scheme. By definition, these are the most vulnerable and high risk families, often with young children.

So far under the scheme they’ve been housed in social housing and in the private rented sector, with the voluntary co-operation of councils. To date 217 Syrians have been accommodated in this way, and now “thousands” more are to come.

Asylum

If you’re a landlord and have a property you would let at the housing benefit rate, you most certainly could help. Likewise social housing providers with excess stock. If you were just thinking of clearing out the box room, that probably wouldn’t do.

Then again, by far the majority of Syrians don’t come to the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Scheme. They make their own way here to claim asylum.

Could you help these people? Yes, and dozens of charities already do.

Without a change in the government’s approach, though, it’s hard to see how your actions would alleviate the refugee crisis we are now witnessing in Europe. The fences in Calais would not come down. The UK would become no easier to reach.