Congratulations!

Congratulations, you have found a suitable home for the family!  You now need to complete the following steps to secure the property:

1. Local Authority Inspection
2. Police Consultation Form
3. Agreements with the Landlord
4. Decide when to start renting
5. Complete Application Form

1) Local Authority Inspection

The Local Authority must be invited to inspect the property, to confirm that it is suitable for the refugee family. They may ask you to undertake some small renovations to ensure that it is safe. They should send you a copy of the inspection report (an email attachment is fine), which you will include in your final application.

If the LA refuses to inspect the property, then you may need to pay for a private surveyor to inspect instead.

This may not be required for Housing Association properties, which are already held to strict safety rules & inspections (check with your Home Office contact or Lead Sponsor).

2) Obtaining Confirmation From Safer Neighbourhood Team

Before you enter into any financial agreement, you need to contact your local police Safer Neighbourhood Team to ensure they have no objection to a resettled refugee family being housed at the address. This is usually a formality, and there is only likely to be an issue in areas with high levels of hate crime or far right activity.

Download the Police Consultation Form below. You should complete Part A of the form and it should be submitted with your application to the Home Office and then Home Office will liaise with the local Police Safer Neighbourhood Team.

The local police Safer Neighbourhood Team (or equivalent police team) should complete Part B using their local knowledge of any known issues of concern such as community tension/anti-social behaviour/hate crime that could impact the wellbeing/integration of a refugee family into the area.

If you have any questions or feedback on this form or process, please contact the Security team at [email protected].

3) Agreements with the Landlord

Invariably, the terms on which the landlord is offering the property are different for every Group, but in our view, it is important that the landlord is broadly sympathetic to your philanthropic aim. In the case of a purely commercial arrangement, the tenancy could prove difficult.

Holding Letter:

To be sure, you ought to obtain a letter from the landlord stating that they are happy to rent their property to a refugee family for a minimum of two years at the agreed rental amount. We've attached a template below:

Tenancy agreement

You should agree with the landlord that the tenancy agreement will be between them and the family and that you will get the family to sign the agreement as soon as possible after they arrive in the UK. 

Below you will find an example tenancy agreement in English & Arabic.

How will you communicate?

To facilitate independence, ideally the family should communicate and resolve any problems directly with the landlord. However, at least initially, they are likely to have a language barrier. So, consider how you will communicate together.

One solution is to have a whatsapp group with the family, the landlord, an interpreter and accommodation lead:

1. Family raises an issue (e.g. broken is broken)
2. Interpreter translates
3. Landlord explains how they will fix the issue. Accommodation Lead monitors until this is resolved.

When to start the tenancy? Void Costs

Groups should aim to defer the commencement of the tenancy agreement as closely to the family's arrival date as they can. The purpose is to minimise what are known as "Void Costs" i.e. paying rent to a landlord for an empty property. 

If your Group secures a property early in the process, we advise to ask the landlord to rent out the property on a short-term basis while you go through the stage described in earlier sections of applying to become a sponsor.

A number of Groups have done this successfully and even helped the landlord to find tenants who are happy with the temporary terms and conditions until the family arrives. Some groups have used Air BnB to meet costs.

The Home Office will pay up to 8 weeks of (actual paid) rent, capped at LHA rate, before the arrival of the family. It takes about 6-8 weeks for the family to arrive in the UK once you are fully approved and matched, so these costs will cover this period. Note that this only covers the rent, and does not include council tax or utility bills. You will need to provide proof of payment (such as a tenancy agreement and bank statement).

Due to increased need for larger properties, the Home Office will reimburse up to 12 weeks for properties with 4 or more bedrooms.

4) Filling Out The Application Form: 1. Accommodation

You are now ready to complete the first part of the Stage Two Application Form - Section 1: Accommodation:

1.1a. Please indicate below how many bedrooms the property has:

1.1b. Please tell us the address of the property:      

1.1c. Please tell us the earliest date you would be able to welcome a resettled family to this property:      

1.1d. Please confirm that the accommodation will be available to the resettled family for two years. Please note that this is an essential requirement as set out in the Statement of Requirements for Sponsors.

 Yes

1.1e. What security of tenure will the resettled family have, for example, a two-year fixed term assured shorthold tenancy or private residential tenancy in Scotland? Will the tenancy agreement have a break clause?      

1.1f. Does the property have independent access via its own front door, and provide adequate privacy to the resettled family which meets the Statement of Requirements for Sponsors?

 Yes

1.1g. How much is the rent each month?      

1.1h. How much is the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) for the size of property your group has secured (please state in £)? £     

Please give the monthly rate. You can calculate LHA here: https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

1.1i. Is the accommodation affordable and sustainable for the family, given the likely social welfare income that the resettled family will receive, taking into account any impact of the Benefit Cap?

 Yes (please provide detail in the space below).

 No (please explain how you will ensure that the resettled family can afford their rent and all other essential household expenditure).

The rent should ideally be set at or below the Local Housing Allowance rate to enable the family to afford it with the social welfare income they receive. You will also need to take into account the benefits cap.

Where the LHA rate/benefits cap does not meet the full rental cost, you will need to show that you have considered the available funds and potential expenditure, and have budgeted accordingly.

1.1j. Have you invited the local authority to inspect the property, and completed any required works to their satisfaction?

 Yes

You must give the local authority the opportunity to inspect your accommodation. 

Please provide details of your engagement to date with the local authority regarding the property     

Have they visited the property? What date? Include any communications as an additional attachment with your Application Pack. Attaching an email is sufficient.

1.1k. If the local authority is not planning to inspect the property, please provide evidence which demonstrates that the property complies with the standards set out in the ‘Statement of Requirements for Sponsors’. Please note that this is an essential requirement.

 Yes, the property complies with the standards. 

If the local authority is unable, or declines to inspect the property, you must provide evidence to demonstrate that the property meets the standards set out in the Statement of Requirements. This should be an independent inspection by a suitably qualified professional.

See Requirements here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765070/2018-12-05_Application_Guidance.pdf

 (Annex C, pg. 16)

1.1l. Please confirm that the property will be appropriately furnished in time for the resettled family’s arrival. Please note that this is an essential requirement as set out in the Statement of Requirements for Sponsors.

Yes, the property will be furnished

1.1m. Have you contacted your local police to inform them of your proposed plans to resettle a family in the area and shared these contact details with the Home Office Community Sponsorship Team?

 Yes

You need to send a Police Board Consultation Form to your Safer neighbourhood team (or local equivalent). See this module of the portal:  https://citizens-uk.teachable.com/courses/1033077/lectures/21640137

1.1n. How will you ensure that the resettled family are able to raise issues concerning the property with the landlord, bearing in mind the potential language barrier (for example, non-functioning appliances)? (100 words)      

EXAMPLE ANSWER: To enable independence as soon as possible, the family will be given the landlord’s direct number. However, until they are confident English speakers, we will set up a Whatsapp group between the Accommodation Lead, the Landlord and an Interpreter. If there are any issues, the family can send a message in their language, which will be translated by the interpreter. Where possible, the landlord will sort this directly, but if there are any problems, the Accommodation Lead will be prepared to help.

1.1o. Will you create and translate an information/welcome pack about the accommodation for the resettled family to assist them with settling in, to include for example, health and safety information and details of an emergency contact point?

Yes

1.1p. What do you anticipate will happen at the end of the two years if the property is no longer available to the resettled family?     

EXAMPLE ANSWER: You do not need to provide accommodation beyond 2 years- but you need to demonstrate that you won't just leave them in the lurch in month 25. You should have this conversation with the family from an early stage.

In their first year, we’ll discuss what to do if they want or need to move.

We can help them to identify their preferred areas (e.g. show them average rents in different areas, take them on trips to visit other towns and villages). If we have any social networks in their preferred area, we can facilitate introductions.

We’ll show them how to use online search sites like Zoopla. We’ll explain the need for house deposit and advance rent, so that they have time to save money for this.

We’ll help with practical things like transferring utility bills, moving schools, etc.