More than £1.2 million of government funding will be used to provide homes for 15 Afghan refugee families in Stoke-on-Trent.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has secured the funding through a national programme aimed at resettling refugees who have fled Afghanistan since the country fell to the Taliban in 2021.

The council plans to use the money to refurbish five long-term empty homes it already owns, and purchase a further 10 properties. Once the two and three-bedroom houses are no longer needed by the Afghans they will become normal council homes available for general allocation – it is not known where in the city the properties will be located.

Council leaders say the scheme will allow Stoke-on-Trent to support vulnerable people 'fleeing tyranny' while also securing government cash to expand the authority's housing stock. Afghan refugees eligible for the scheme include those who worked alongside British armed forces, along with other vulnerable groups such as woman and girls, who have come to the UK under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme or similar programmes.

Cllr Chris Robinson said Stoke-on-Trent is a 'welcoming and diverse city' (Image supplied).

Councillor Chris Robinson, cabinet member for housing and planning at the city council, said: "Stoke-on-Trent is a welcoming and diverse city and we are proud to be able to provide shelter for those fleeing tyranny. As a country we have a moral responsibility to the people of Afghanistan who bravely stood alongside the British, and for democracy, against the brutal Taliban regime.

"In the longer term, these properties will be added to the council's housing stock – meaning this humanitarian act will also have a long-term legacy for the entire city."

The council has previously criticised the government for relocating hundreds of asylum seekers to Stoke-on-Trent under the Home Office's dispersal scheme – which is completely separate to the Afghan resettlement scheme. According to the latest government figures, a total of 1,156 asylum seekers were being accommodated in Stoke-on-Trent in June, equating to 45 per 10,000 population – one of the highest ratios in the country.

A report on the Afghan housing scheme, which will go to cabinet for approval next Tuesday, says that the council considered the impact on local resources of accommodating 15 Afghan families in the city, along with the 'current wider asylum and refugee landscape'. But the report also notes the scheme's 'significant financial incentives'.

According to the report, there will be no requirement for the council to match fund the government grant, and the aim will be to deliver the homes with as little additional funding as possible. The funding has been awarded from the third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund, which has provided £1.2 billion to councils since 2022. The city council was not eligible to apply in the first two rounds.

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