Afghan and Ukrainian refugees get council housing from West Berkshire

West Berkshire Council has bought the first seven homes under a new scheme to support people displaced from Ukraine and Afghanistan – with the first family moving in this week.

The £9m housing project will deliver a total of 27 new homes for families who have arrived under resettlement schemes but been unable to find suitable accommodation.

The homes purchased so far – a mix of houses and flats – will provide accommodation across the district in Calcot, Thatcham, Newbury and Hungerford.

Work continues to deliver the remaining accommodation – both by buying properties and creating West Point House in Newbury, previously a council office and now surplus to the council's needs, into apartments.

The remaining homes are due to be secured by early spring this year.

"This scheme will help us to support vulnerable people who have moved to our district from areas of the world which are unsafe for them,” said Denise Gaines (Lib Dem, Hungerford and Kintbury), executive member for housing.

“It will allow them a place to settle and in time, as they move on, leave us with accommodation we can use across our wider housing service.

"This project has been enabled through central Government funding, as well as West Berkshire Council funding and is in addition to the support we already provide.

“It means we can help those arriving under settlement schemes without impacting on the services we provide for residents who need our help now or in the future."

The housing project is being part-funded by central Government through its Local Authority Housing Fund. It was set up to help councils manage the impact on its housing services when supporting displaced families arriving in the UK.

West Berkshire Council has been allocated £3.6m, which is capped at 40-50% of local authority costs.