“Afghan families should not still be living in hotels and councils share the Government’s determination to get them into permanent homes."
Responding to the written ministerial statement from Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer MP on Afghan resettlement, Cllr Shaun Davies, Chair of the Local Government Association, said:
“Afghan families should not still be living in hotels and councils share the Government’s determination to get them into permanent homes. Councils with hotels continue to work hard locally with partners and with councils across the UK to support Afghan households to quickly find accommodation using the additional government funding in a range of different ways to try and source new homes for them.
“It is good that the Government has provided certainty both for people with medical conditions and for families that councils have matched with properties that will only become available after the closure of their hotel. We are keen to work with government on how the short-term accommodation options for them and the eviction process for the other households will work for both councils and for families.
“Increased demand and acute shortage of housing available across the country, combined with other pressures from across asylum and resettlement schemes, will make it extremely challenging for the large number of families remaining in hotels to find affordable, long-term accommodation in the areas they want to live in before their hotels close.
“Councils remain hugely concerned that large numbers of families - some of whom are particularly vulnerable – may have to end up presenting as homeless, particularly larger and multi-generational families. This will mean them having to move into high-cost temporary accommodation rather than permanent homes. Councils will do all they can to minimise multiple moves and disruption for families in the remaining time before the hotel closures start, and to secure places in schools for any children moving to new areas when these start again in the Autumn."