14th
Feb 2017
Councils are having to ask private landlords to help find homes to house refugees as they do not have enough housing stock available.
The Refugees Welcome campaign highlights the major problem of housing shortages across the capital and social housing cannot cope, therefore landlords are being asked to help.
It has been widely reported that the councils will only take in refugee families when homes have been found for them and landlords have been asked to provide their properties to help the intake, at the same time they have to reduce their rent to be able to do so.
Lambeth Welcomes Refugees, Dr, Rachel Burke, is urging landlords to reduce their rents as council's housing benefits are less than the PRS.
Dr. Burke, said: “We need to find landlords that will take tenants at what is generally around 15 per cent less than the market rate.
"I don’t think people particularly know that this is what the hold-up is getting refugees over here from the camps.”
Over the last few months Lambeth has housed nine Jordanian families from refugee camps as part of their vulnerable person resettlement programme. It has also promised to welcome a further twenty three refugee families.
One generous landlord who took in a refugee family in her rental flat, Katie Barlow, said: “I will never forget the look of exhaustion and relief on the mother’s face as she carried her two-year-old sleeping son through the front door and lay him down on the little children’s bed, and the joy I felt that I was able to provide a place where his parents felt he was safe.
“Today, for the first time, I feel proud to be a landlady. Landlords have to be willing to take an approximately 15 per cent cut in rental income; but in return they can live with the knowledge that they are helping a vulnerable family."
The chairwoman of London Councils, Claire Kober, said: “Londoners have already been incredibly generous, but we now need more houses for Syrian refugees to call home.
“If you have an empty property in London that you’d be willing to rent out, I urge you to contact your council.
"You may not have let the property out before but — if it is filled — your generosity could make a huge difference to a refugee family.”
So one of the most maligned sectors in the press is stepping up and hopefully a 'fanfare' from the media will follow.
Hayley Cowburn, Brand and Marketing Manager of PIMS, said: " There is very little good being published by the media regarding private renting landlords and this story has received little coverage of those willing to accept less rent to help those from war torn countries.
" Doesn't this beg the question why doesn't the Local Government Communities Department make up the rest of the rent from their coffers to those landlords who are willing to help?"
News Archive »