Blog: Supporting the resettlement of arrivals from Afghanistan into the UK
The response from landlords pledging to support the UK Government’s Afghan resettlement scheme has been overwhelming with welcome calls for the relaunch of a ‘housing portal.’
The portal is used for landlords looking to register their properties, to house Afghan nationals who have settled in the UK, as part of the UK Government’s Afghan Resettlement Scheme.
Data collected from the portal is then used by local authorities to match Afghan families to suitable properties.
On arrival to the UK, Afghan nationals are sent to bridging hotels. Here they are given a national insurance number, access to medical services and any other support that they require.
However, these hotels are a temporary solution and do not offer families an ideal opportunity to settle into UK life.
We have met with most Strategic Migration Partnerships, who coordinate migration across regions in England and Wales to look to see how communication could be improved and to reduce barriers for landlords to support the scheme.
Following our recent webinar for the Southeast and Wales, not to mention our many articles and blog posts, we are continuing to encourage landlords with suitable properties to engage with the portal or their local authority.
As the average Afghan family is generally larger than UK families, suitable properties will ideally be family sized, self-contained and ready to rent.
To continue to raise awareness of some of the issues Afghan nationals may experience and how landlords can support them, we are working in partnership with the International Office for Migration in a webinar proposed for April 13th.
In addition, are also raising awareness of a pilot project to support families living in bridging hotels and how they can be dispersed across regions.
If you are a landlord who has already let to an Afghan national involved in the scheme or any other resettlement schemes, please get in touch, we would love to hear your experiences and insight.
Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said:
“The NRLA has seen considerable interest among its members in wanting to help refugees. The release of the improved portal is a step forward in helping match landlords with prospective tenants and we’d recommend that those with suitable properties register their interest.”
Landlords wishing to access the housing portal will be giving non-committal support which is access by Strategic Migration Partnerships and local authorities.
Register for the NRLA webinar with the International Office for Migration and Housing issues and cultural awareness for Afghan resettlement programme
