Affordable Housing 'Greatest Barrier' To Refugee Resettlement

A lack of affordable housing is “one of the greatest barriers” to housing Syrian refugees, with the benefit cap pricing them out of London and the South East. This is the warning from councils expressed in a National Audit Office (NAO) report looking at the UK government’s flagship effort to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees. The report looking at the progress of the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme said councils are worried a reduction on the cap in benefits to £23,000 a year in London and £20,000 outside could mean private rented housing “would not be affordable to many refugees”. Download a copy of the report from the NAO website.