£500m for refugee move on accommodation announced

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has announced £500m of capital funding to support local authorities to provide more move on accommodation for people who have arrived in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and the Afghan Resettlement Scheme. The fund will also aim to provide a new and permanent supply of accommodation for local authorities to help address local housing and homelessness pressures.

Read the written statement in full

It is estimated that the UK has welcomed over 140,000 people from Ukraine through the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme and 23,000 Afghans who worked alongside the UK government, of whom around 9,200 are living in bridging hotel accommodation. 

DLUHC has written to local authorities that have been identified as eligible for the funding. The full list of local authorities has not yet been published. We do, however, know that the most acute housing pressure, in part as a result of arrivals from Ukraine and Afghanistan, is concentrated in London, the south east and the south west. We also know that most of the homes delivered are expected to be via stock acquisition. Local authorities will have the flexibility to choose their delivery route but will be encouraged to work with local housing associations to deliver homes or pass on funding to housing associations to enable delivery. Homes provided could include the refurbishment or conversion of buildings, acquiring new build properties from developers or building new homes.

We will continue to update you on ways for housing associations to get involved in this process.

If you have any questions in the meantime then please do get in touch with our team.