Some £90m for councils to reduce the risk of homelessness for new arrivals to the UK has been reallocated after local authorities rejected the cash.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities had offered £500m to 182 councils and the Greater London Authority based on a formula used to determine the local authorities with the greatest need.
It has now confirmed that 26 local authorities decided not to take part in the Local Authority Housing Fund.
The department said that based on current delivery plans around £90m had been ‘reallocated to local authorities wanting to do more than their initial allocation’ but these councils have not been publicly named.
A DLUHC spokesperson insisted that it had always anticipated that it would redistribute money from local authorities ‘which declined to others with greater capacity’.
The MJ understands some of the councils that have received more money have been reluctant to be identified amid the risk that community tensions will be inflamed as asylum seekers arrive.
This article was originally published by The MJ (£).
