Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which councils have received new funding to house refugees from (a) Ukraine and (b) Afghanistan; and how many refugees his Department plans to support with this funding.

We are announcing £35 million of new funding to enable local authorities to provide increased support for Afghan households to move from hotels into settled accommodation.

Further to the announcement made earlier today, the Department for Levelling Up is expanding the Local Authority Housing Fund for England with an additional £250 million, primarily targeted at Afghan arrivals. This is in addition to the £500 million already allocated to support areas with the highest existing housing pressures and those that are facing the most significant housing pressures as a result of the recent Ukrainian arrivals.

Where sponsorships can no longer continue for the financial year 2023/24, all councils will receive help to house Ukrainians through a one-off pot of government funding worth £150 million.