Refugee Action said it had to step in to prevent a woman, who was six-months pregnant, becoming street homeless after she waited more than three months for a response to her family’s asylum support application.

Another woman waited 170 days for an asylum support decision – during which time she gained refugee status and never received the help she was entitled to, the charity added.

Refugee Action said the delays defy legislation setting out the Home Office’s duty to prevent people seeking asylum becoming destitute while their claims are processed, a process which can take years and during which the vast majority of people are banned from working. The support is only available to people who can demonstrate they will be destitute within 14 days, however people are waiting an average of 46 days to receive it.

The charity analysed 162 applications for asylum support made between May 2017 and May 2018 through its projects in Birmingham, London and Manchester.

These new figures show people at risk of homelessness and with no means of supporting themselves are waiting three times longer than they should to receive Section 95 support, which provides housing and a small amount of money (just £5.39 a day) for essential living costs, including food, clothing and transport.

Some are waiting far longer, with five people waiting over 100 days before their application for S95 support was granted.

People applying for Section 4 support, which is available to some of the most vulnerable families, who have been refused asylum, waited an average of 36 days for a decision on their application.

Refugee Action is releasing its latest analysis of asylum support a year after the publication of its report Slipping through the cracks, which looked at the impact of long delays on people seeking asylum.

One year on, the charity finds destitute people seeking asylum are still struggling to access the support they desperately need.

Stephen Hale, chief executive of Refugee Action, said: “Forcing people who have fled violence and persecution into homelessness and poverty in Britain is morally indefensible.

“We’ve repeatedly asked the Home Office to address the ongoing delays and IT failures that are leaving vulnerable people destitute and unable to feed themselves or their families, and to be open and accountable for its decisions.

“These cruel delays are further evidence of an asylum system in urgent need of reform to ensure it is fair, effective and compassionate.”