Surrey landlords can you help house an Afghan families?
Several local councils are asking for assistance
A Surrey refugee charity is reaching out to private landlords to help house Afghans fleeing terror.
Spelthorne’s council leader Lawrence Nichols (LD, Halliford and Sunbury West) said: “They want to contribute to this country, these are not scroungers in any sense.”
A couple of landlords have responded to Elmbridge Borough Council’s appeal for help, but many more houses are needed.
Around 60 Afghan refugees who were transferred to Surrey from Manchester on Monday are currently in a Spelthorne hotel paid for by the Home Office, and they will need to find permanent accommodation.
Cllr Nichols said on the BBC’s Newsnight this week the borough is committed to taking more, “towards 100”.
He said: “This isn’t doing anything wild or wacky, it’s actually doing what needs to be done at the time.”
Asked by presenter Kirsty Wark if there was social housing for them to stay in the area, he said: “No there is not.
“We have a waiting list. That is tomorrow’s problem. We’ve got today’s problem, which is meeting their needs.”
Elmbridge councillor Judy Sarsby (LD, Weybridge Riverside) said: “All the accommodation cannot come from councils because they have their own issues, so it has to come from the private sector.”
She said after speaking to a lot of estate agents she found many landlords had been selling up and there was “a lot less on the market”.
“The British public are very generous, but second-hand clothes and toys is not what the families need at the moment – what they need is a roof over their heads.
“They want to work and support their families as soon as possible.
“Living in this country with democracy we are all so privileged. If we all take a closer look at what others suffer, it should be so easy to offer support.”
Cllr Sarsby volunteers as a social care worker for refugee charity Elmbridge CAN. It formed in response to the Syrian civil war and helps refugees by, for example, finding furniture, registering them with GPs and schools and improving their English.
“And things like explaining what November 5th is so they don’t need to hide under the bed, coming from Syria,” said Cllr Sarsby. “It isn’t a popular night, you can imagine.”
Many of the 20 Syrian families who resettled in Elmbridge three years ago are also coming to the end of their tenancy agreements and need housing.
Councils are looking for long-term rents and are offering rent guarantees of up to 12 months.
Surrey Heath Borough Council has worked with Accent Housing and found temporary accommodation for five families.