Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2022 to Question 38652 on Refugees: Afghanistan, what steps the Government is taking to work with local authorities across the UK to identify more opportunities for people being housed in bridging hotels to move into permanent accommodation.

We continue to work at pace with over 350 local authority partners to meet the demand for housing and have moved – or are in the process of moving - around 7,400 people into homes since June 2021.

Both the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Home Office have teams which engage with local authorities and Strategic Migration Partnerships (SMPs) to encourage local authorities to pledge support.

We are providing funding to local authorities who support people through the Afghan Citizen's Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) or Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme to the value of £20,520 per person, over 3 years, for resettlement and integration costs. There is also an additional housing costs fund available over three years to provide a top-up to help councils meet the costs of renting properties of three bedrooms or more in recognition of the need to find larger homes for families for those evacuated from Afghanistan.

Local authorities and health partners who resettle families will also receive up to £4,500 per child for education, £850 for English language provision for adults requiring this support and £2,600 for healthcare.

We are also reaching out to landlords, developers, and the wider private rented sector to encourage further offers of properties, either directly to local authorities or through our housing portal.