The Mary Seacole Housing Association was founded in Councillor Desline Stewart’s kitchen, in response to the direct pleas of young people who were running away from home. It’s with these roots in mind that we embarked on a pilot programme developed with local partners and the Centre for Homelessness Impact, funded by MHCLG last year. The pilot offers time-limited accommodation-based support to people with unclear or restricted entitlements, combined with in-house immigration advice and wrap around support. In the same spirit as our founder’s early efforts - this was about supporting an under-served community in need of help. 

It quickly became apparent that demand for this specialist support was high and that the local existing immigration advice services were overburdened or unable to serve our clients, especially those experiencing street homelessness. We knew we had to take action.

In early 2025, we began preparing to register as a provider of regulated immigration advice with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) now known as the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA). We were also in the process of employing our immigration advisor and needed to navigate the complexities of transferring qualifications from the Law Society into the OISC framework. This proved to be a significant challenge. Communication around equivalency and acceptance of these qualifications was inconsistent, and we received different advice depending on the source.

After gaining clarity, we proceeded with submitting the full organisational application in late January 2025, but our experience was quite different to expected or proposed timescales:

From February to August 2025, we experienced a prolonged period with limited or no communication from the IAA. Despite multiple follow-ups, we were left unsure about the progress of our application. This lack of clarity impacted planning, staffing, and partnership building.

On 4 September 2025, we received formal confirmation that Mary Seacole Housing Association was now a fully registered immigration advice provider with the IAA.

This moment marked a significant achievement for the organisation. Not only had we succeeded in formalising our ability to deliver immigration advice, but we had done so through a live-tested model grounded in real community need. Our service now stands as one of the few homelessness charities in the region offering in-house, regulated immigration advice. 

For organisations considering the same path, our advice would be:

• Start with a pilot, if possible. It strengthens your application. 

• Clarify roles early, especially for advisors vs non-operational trustees.
• Expect delays, and plan for long waiting periods with little feedback.
• Use the guidance provided, but don’t hesitate to request written clarification when needed.
• Maintain resilience – the process is achievable with persistence and preparation.
  
  

While the process was more difficult than anticipated, it was successful. We believe our experience reflects what many smaller charities may face when navigating IAA registration.

Today, MSHA is proud to be offering regulated immigration advice through a proven, community-led, trauma-informed model. Our journey shows that it is possible, even for small charities, to become accredited advice providers—especially when driven by lived experience, service user need, and a mission to create fairer systems. We feel that we’re living the vision that our founder had for us - to deliver high quality services to communities too often overlooked, in a way that is safe and sustainable. We hope that our experience helps others to do the same. 

Evaluation findings for the project will be published in Summer 2026.  Across the Accommodation and Immigration Advice trial so far, through funded immigration advice and support, more than 50 people have had a positive immigration outcome. 

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Neville Solomon is Chief Operating Officer at Mary Seacole Housing Association

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