Mayor announces £126m of funding for 600 new homes for refugees

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced funding for up to 600 new homes in London for Ukrainians and Afghans who have fled conflict and are homeless, at risk of homelessness or living in unsuitable temporary accommodation.

The announcement comes as the capital is set to join others around the world in marking the first anniversary of the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tonight, City Hall, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye and other London landmarks will be lit up to join an international moment of solidarity with Ukrainians in London and abroad.

Many of the bridging accommodation sites are due to close in the coming months and the initial six-month accommodation commitment by hosts through the Homes for Ukraine scheme will, in the vast majority of cases, be ending soon or have already ended. This will put further pressure on already stretched council accommodation programmes.

To ease this pressure, the Mayor has been allocated £126m from the Government’s £500m Local Authority Housing Fund to enable boroughs and housing associations to deliver 600 affordable homes for Ukrainians and Afghans fleeing conflict. In London the programme will be known as the Refugee Housing Programme (RHP), and will run until 31 March 2024.

Housing associations and local authorities who have an ambition to develop RHP homes will be able to bid for funding from early spring. The programme will fund new home acquisitions, including refurbishing existing or newly acquired homes, purchasing new-build properties or developing new homes. Individual funding allocations will be approved and administered by City Hall.

The programme will also make funding available for local authorities and housing associations to provide better quality and more sustainable accommodation for households currently in Home Office bridging accommodation. This will often be for larger homes, given the average family size of those in bridging accommodation.

In the longer term, the homes delivered through the RHP will be returned to councils and housing associations to become social or affordable rented homes available for Londoners on the housing waiting list or who require temporary accommodation. Rents charged to refugees will be affordable. All Ukrainian and Afghan scheme arrivals have the right to work, receive benefits and access public services.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m committed to supporting refugees who have come here to rebuild their lives and do everything I can to help them thrive in their local community. That’s why I’ve announced a new programme which will see City Hall deliver up to 600 affordable homes for Ukrainians and Afghans fleeing conflict, giving those who have been through such harrowing upheaval the stability they deserve.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily