Hut accommodating officer before being given asylum (9)
I believe the answer is:
sheltered
'given asylum' is the definition.
(to shelter someone is to give them asylum)
'hut accommodating officer before' is the wordplay.
'hut' becomes 'shed' (hut in a garden).
'accommodating' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'officer' becomes 'lt' (abbreviation for lieutenant).
'before' becomes 'ere' (poetic term for 'before').
'lt'+'ere'='ltere'
'shed' going around 'ltere' is 'SHELTERED'.
'being' is the link.
(Other definitions for sheltered that I've seen before include "Safely tucked away" , "Covered" , "Protected, as housing" , "Secluded" , "safe from the elements" .)