Homes for refugees on Executive agenda

10 August 2023

A report at next week’s meeting of North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive will see members discussing 11 homes for people and families who have settled in the area from Afghanistan and alleviate wider homelessness pressures.

North Northamptonshire Council has been allocated funding from the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities to deliver 11 houses during 2023/2024. 9 of the houses will be for Afghan families, with the remaining 2 homes purchased for temporary accommodation.

During the meeting on 17 August, Councillors will be asked to approve to provide the required match funding against the central government grant.

It is proposed that the Council commits to the programme to alleviate increased demand on homelessness and temporary accommodation services and to assist refugees who have arrived in the area to move on from bridging hotels or sponsor placements.

Since the start of the Afghan Resettlement Programme was launched in 2021, we, like many local authorities have experienced challenges in supporting people to move into more permanent accommodation. This proposal will help those on the resettlement scheme build new lives in the UK, integrate into communities and find employment - something which we know is extremely important to them.Cllr Helen Harrison, the council’s Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing

If approved, this will help more Afghan families move from bridging hotels into homes they can call their own, whilst mitigating the expected increase on resources when current arrangements come to an end. Larger properties, which are typically required by Afghan families, are in short supply in the private sector, which is why we are looking to purchase four-bed plus properties - avoiding the need for larger families to move into unsuitable, temporary accommodation.Cllr Mark Rowley, the council’s Executive Member for Housing, Communities and Levelling-Up

I look forward to considering this report with my fellow Executive members. As well as providing homes for those who have had to flee their homes in such awful circumstances, it will also reduce local housing pressures beyond the scheme by providing better quality temporary accommodation to families across North Northants.Cllr Jason Smithers, Leader of the Council

The Executive will meet on Thursday 17 August from 10am and the papers for the Local Authority Housing Fund are available online. The meeting will be live streamed via YouTube.