Local authorities are already seeing Afghan families presenting as homeless due to the Government’s policy of moving them out of hotels, says the Local Government Association (LGA).
Cllr Shaun Davies, chair of the LGA, said that it was wrong that some families are having to leave Home Office-funded hotels ‘only to then end up having to move into temporary accommodation.’
The situation was also likely to ‘worsen significantly’ as the Home Office stops paying for the remaining bridging hotels for Afghan families, he warned.
A Government spokesperson said: ‘Hotels are not, and were never designed to be, long-term accommodation for Afghans resettled in the UK and it is not in their best interests to be living in hotel accommodation for months or years on end.’
Cllr Davies said that there was more to do to ensure a smooth transition for Afghan families which doesn’t pass costs and responsibility from the Government to councils.
‘We would like to work with councils and Government to look at greater flexibilities around hotel move on given the pace and scale of the challenge,’ he said.
‘Government should pay to keep hotel places open for those struggling to find accommodation. This is likely to include large families or families that will be matched with properties that, due to Government funding arrangements, will only be available after the closure of interim hotels in December.’
Cllr Davies also said that councils would like to see access to Ministry of Defence accommodation widened to all those in hotels and added that hotels should not be closed just to switch to becoming hotels for other new arrivals.
