Supporting resettlement in Elmbridge

Some residents may be seeing news and social media coverage of a “scandal” at Elmbridge Borough Council regarding housing allocations for migrants and the associate funding. It has also been written that decisions at Elmbridge lack transparency and that we “wanted to keep the money secret”. 

We would like to set the record straight.

Supporting resettlement in Elmbridge

• Elmbridge Borough Council has supported resettlement from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine over the years. Working with local partners, we have offered safety and support to those fleeing conflict and fear.
   
• We have always been open and transparent about this support.
   
• Since 2023, we have used specific government funding (the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF)), as well as the council’s Affordable Housing Enabling Fund to offer homes to those fleeing Ukraine and Afghanistan.
   
• To date, we have purchased, refurbished and let 24 homes in Elmbridge to these households, at a total cost of £10.25m.  
   
• Of the 24 homes referred to above, 8 have been let to Afghan households and 16 to Ukrainian households.  These all came to the UK through safe and legal routes under resettlement schemes set up by the previous government.
   
• While we resettled Syrian households under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons’ Resettlement Scheme, these were all placed in private-rented accommodation and not council owned properties.

Funding long term affordable housing

• Of the £10.25m total cost, £4.57m of this has come from the Local Authority Housing Fund grant and £5.68m from the Affordable Housing Enabling Fund (which mainly comprises financial contributions towards affordable housing from private developers).  
   
• We are still working to deliver 3 more homes for Afghan households under the round 3 of the Local Authority Housing Fund.
   
• The LAHF programme is also supporting councils to acquire temporary accommodation to help address wider homelessness pressures too.  To date, we have purchased 3 properties for this use, with a minimum of three more to be bought. These costs are not included in the figures quoted.
   
• All three rounds of LAHF will provide a lasting affordable housing asset for the future. The funding will reduce the impact on existing housing pressures and in the longer term will provide a new and permanent supply of accommodation for local communities, increasing the number of homes in the wider social and affordable housing system.  
   
• As such, while the majority of the homes delivered as LAHF within Elmbridge have been let / will be let to eligible Afghan or Ukrainian households in the short to medium-term, longer-term they will be available to meet our wider housing needs.
   
• While the Afghan households will comprise either UK citizens or Afghans with indefinite leave to remain and may be longer-term tenants, the position with the Ukrainian refugees is different.  
   
• They currently have up to 4.5 years leave to remain in the UK although in July 2025, the government did indicate that they will be extending the length of stay further, but we are awaiting further detail. Depending on that decision and what happens in Ukraine, it may well be that a number of these tenancies end in several years and the properties become available for letting to other households.
   
• The council has been allocated over £7.7m in LAHF funding from central government and has enabled us to acquire assets with effectively half the cost met by external funding. 
   
• Through the LAHF programme we will be acquiring at least 5 homes for use as temporary accommodation to meet wider homeless pressures.  

Transparency throughout 

EBC’s decisions to participate in the three rounds of the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) programme and to commit EBC funding to access MHCLG funding were all made in accordance with our constitution. The dates and links to the decision-making meetings for each round are set out below.  These meetings are all public meetings.

LAHF 1 

• Recommended by Cabinet on 8 February 2023   (item 58/22)
• Minutes
• Agreed by Council on 22 February 2023 

LAHF 2 

• Recommended by Cabinet on 5 July 2023  (item 7/23)
• Minutes
• Approved by Council on 19 July 2023 

LAHF 3

• Decided via Urgent Action decision, 23/09:  Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF) – Round 3 – issued 27 March 2024
• Reported to Council on Wednesday 17 April 2024. 

Additionally, there was a written update provided to Overview and Scrutiny on 19 February 2024 on 'displaced persons programme', at this point there had been two LAHF rounds. It refers to Elmbridge Borough Council's contribution to complement LAHF allocation from government.

More information on The Affordable Housing Enabling Fund

The Affordable Housing Enabling Fund is a fund set aside for delivering affordable housing in Elmbridge.  It mainly comprises contributions received from private developers towards affordable housing when they secure a planning permission for residential development and either because the development is relatively small or for another reason, it is agreed that a financial sum to support the delivery of affordable housing off-site, rather than on-site, is the most appropriate option.  

More information on the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF)

Elmbridge Borough Council was one of many local authorities awarded funding through the Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF), a government initiative designed to boost housing supply and support vulnerable groups. As part of the programme, councils were required to provide match funding - contributing their own resources alongside the government grant - to maximise the impact of the investment.  For example, 182 councils plus the Greater London Authority, were offered an allocation of funding for round one, 230 were offered funding in round two and 203 were offered allocations in round three. The allocations were made to councils deemed to have the greatest need for the funding.

Elmbridge’s participation reflects its commitment to addressing local housing needs in collaboration with national efforts. More background on LAHF is available at:  Local Authority Housing Fund - GOV.UK