Council plea for homes to help Afghan refugees
16 POSSIBLE PROPERTIES IDENTIFIED BUT MORE NEEDED
A COUNCIL has called for members of the public across Leicestershire to offer up homes to refugees who have fled Afghanistan.
The UK evacuated more than 15,000 Afghans, British nationals and others from the Middle Eastern country in two weeks after the Taliban seized control.
Councils across Leicestershire are set to take in some of the refugees and Charnwood Borough Council is co-ordinating efforts to find them homes in the county.
So far, 16 possible homes have been firmly identified across the county.
A spokesperson for the council said: “We have received 455 offers of donations of items and support and nine offers of properties from the government website.
“The government launched a dedicated housing portal on August 27 and by September 6 we had received seven property offers. Therefore, we have received 16 offers of properties in total.
“These are all in different areas of the county and are currently being assessed.
“Councils in Leicestershire and Rutland continue to work together to support this scheme and we would like to thank everyone who has offered properties, donations and support.”
The council has now urged Leicestershire residents to continue with their generous offers of support.
The spokesperson added: “We would encourage any other property owners who may have self-contained properties to offer the scheme to use the portal.
“We have responded to all the offers, but our main focus remains on identifying properties.”
The council is looking for properties that are currently empty, rather than house shares.
The government has two schemes to help relocate those fleeing the Taliban – one to welcome 5,000 people who currently or formerly worked for British Armed Forces in Afghanistan and their families and a second to resettle a total of 20,000 at-risk Afghans over a five-year period.
Both of these schemes will be funded by the central government.