The minister for refugees has asked municipalities to help house 10,500 Afghans who are now staying in hotels for £1 million per day to the taxpayer.
Lord Harrington informed councils that the government had less than 100 suitable properties in June, but expected 500 Afghans to arrive each month.
Several Afghans stated that living in hotels prevented them from settling down.
“I understand what this is costing the British people, but for what?”
Mohammad, in his forties, stated: “How can I settle down and integrate while we are living in a hotel for months on end? I am unable to begin my life correctly.”
After Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August of last year, he moved to the United Kingdom with his wife and two small children, where he worked alongside the British Army in Afghanistan.
Since September, he and his wife of 20 years have been sharing a motel room with their two children.
“I do not blame her because I am familiar with the circumstances. She resides in this room with two children for one year. These are children, and she’s depressed, so the situation is not favorable “, he remarked.
According to the Local Government Association, Afghan families are being temporarily housed in hotels until social housing is provided.
Once accommodation is located, the government provides the local council with more than £20,000 per individual over three years to assist with resettlement and community integration.
It is up to councils to provide housing, but many are already facing a housing shortage.
The Home Office stated that more than 7,000 Afghan evacuees had already been placed in new houses.
Lord Harrington stated that an additional 2,000 houses were required to shelter the remaining 10,500 people.
A month later, the government estimated that 9,500 Afghans required housing.
According to Newsnight, the Home Office is in negotiations with some local councils to prolong the Afghan hotel scheme into next year, allowing some inhabitants to remain there for longer.
The outlook is gloomy for Afghans like Munza. Six months have passed since she moved with her parents and younger brother into a motel in the north of England.
They are unable to cook in the hotel, and she reports that everyone is “very depressed.”
“Our motels are likewise located in a remote area, distant from the city and any stores selling necessities. And with extremely limited bus service in this area, it makes life much more challenging and aggravating for those presently residing here.”
Lord Harrington wrote that there was a demand for more than 500 four-bedroom homes to accommodate larger families.
He stated that the government was reaching out to landlords, property developers, and the private rented sector as a whole, including the property listing website Rightmove, to increase the number of available housing units.
It is also working with educational institutions to turn properties into long-term housing, he stated.
The Home Office stated that it faced a “challenge” of limited local housing provision in the United Kingdom, “not only for Afghans and those in need of protection but also for British people who are also on waiting lists for homes.”
The Home Office stated in its statement that while hotels can not provide a long-term solution, they do provide safe, secure, and hygienic accommodations.
