Funding and flexibilities are needed to secure affordable accommodation for Afghan families.
The Government has announced that temporary bridging accommodation for 8,000 Afghans will be closed in a staggered process.
Individuals and families housed in bridging hotels are currently being written to by government, outlining when their access to hotel accommodation will end, along with details of the further support to enter settled accommodation.
Councils will be given £35 million in new funding to support move on, integration and to minimise homelessness risks.
The existing Local Authority Housing Fund will also be increased by £250 million to help councils source homes to house Afghans.
The Government has also outlined ambitions to use two ex-military and one non-military site to accommodate just under 5,000 asylum seekers, with further sites to follow.
Councils continue to seek better planning and engagement on the use of larger sites for asylum seeker accommodation, which includes a community cohesion plan.
The LGA has pressed for councils, their local partners and their communities to be fully involved in any new sites for asylum seekers so that these are properly planned and can keep people safe and supported, and for asylum seekers to be more fairly distributed across the UK.
We are aware of the pressures on local areas from current and new programmes and continue to highlight councils’ concerns around the supply and access to housing, particularly for asylum seekers, following the Government’s recent announcements on resettlement and the use of hotels.
“We highlighted the need for continued joint working on asylum dispersal”
The LGA is pressing for ongoing engagement at a national, regional and local level to jointly work through the process and for a place-based approach that takes into account pressures on all local services and from other programmes.
In a letter to ministers at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Home Office and Cabinet Office, the LGA has highlighted council concerns around the cumulative impact of new and existing asylum resettlement programmes, combined with local housing and homelessness pressures.
It also urges government to develop urgent communications materials to help explain what the recent announcements mean for communities, those families affected, as well as local partners.
The LGA has put forward a range of proposals to help with the delivery of the recent announcements, along with wider priorities on asylum and to help minimise cohesion risks – which are becoming an increasing concern across the country.
The proposals include calls for funding and flexibilities to enable councils to secure affordable accommodation for Afghan families – particularly large families – and clarity on the refusals process.
We highlighted the need for continued joint working on asylum dispersal, including early planning for the future.
We have also asked for further urgent cross-government discussions on both the implications of the temporary exemption of asylum accommodation from ‘house in multiple occupation’ licensing requirements and how local partners can work with the proposed inspection regime.
Finally, the LGA reiterated its call for a commitment to a ‘place-based approach’ that takes into account pressures on local services and pressures from other programmes.