Accommodation

Hosting

Providing temporary accommodation for homeless migrants and refugees

We have a great opportunity to partner with Housing Justice to provide support to refugees or migrants by hosting them for a few days or a few months.

If you have a spare room and live within the M25, this can be a vital place of support, safety and security until the case of the refugee has been progressed or resolved. We are not offering professional support, simply a place to stay, facilities to wash and somewhere to cook and eat. These and your offer of friendship will go a long way.

The processes include a thorough risk assessments to ensure the safety of both hosts and refugee guests, this is vetted by the Housing Justice. You meet your guest beforehand, get relevant training and support from the Housing Justice and you will have a chance to meet other hosts.

Please send an email to [email protected] to find out more or to let us know you have a spare bedroom.

Community Sponsorship Programme

We want to help refugees coming in to the UK feel welcome and help them set up for life in our city and nation. As a church we are signing up for the Community Sponsorship Programme with the Home Office, which means that we have the opportunity to support Syrian refugee families with their resettlement in the UK for the first two years they are here.

The Community Sponsorship Programme will help families from Syria find a place to live, support them with settling into the UK and their community, help them with English classes and digital skills and provide a warm welcome and connection with people in their new country.

One of the main requirements for this programme is facilitating adequate living space for these families. If you are a property owner or landlord and have living areas available for the next two years that you would like to offer against Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates please get in touch via our email [email protected]. To check the LHA rates for your area go to gov.uk.

The requirements for accommodation are:

Each bedroom should allow a minimum of 70 sq ft ( 6.50 sq m) per person.
The accommodation must be available for a period of two years A separate bedroom must be allocated to each
– married or cohabiting couple
– adult aged 21 years or more
– pair of adolescents aged 10-20 years of the same sex
– pair of children aged under 10 years regardless of sex

The property must be in a proper state of structural repair, must be maintained throughout in a good state of repair with safe electricity and/or gas supplies, and with adequate ventilation and lighting.

The property should be appropriately furnished with
– an appropriate number and type of beds;
– a toilet, a washbasin and a fixed bath or shower with hot and cold water;
– a fixed heating appliance in each room, which is capable of providing effective heating and which the tenant can control;
– facilities for cooking and for the hygienic preparation and storage of food (for example, a 4-ring hob with oven and grill, – – – fridge-freezer, microwave oven, and kitchen sink);
– access to a washing facilities (e.g. a washing machine or nearby laundrette);
– access to facilities to dry clothes (e.g. outdoor clothes line or indoor clothes-drying rack); and
– a fire blanket and smoke alarms

To find out more about this or register your interest email us at [email protected].