Transparency data

Afghan bridging hotel exit operational data

Updated 22 August 2024

The information presented in this factsheet includes operational information recorded locally by resettlement teams. All data on Afghan resettlement should be considered provisional and is subject to change whilst work continues to ensure information relating to all these individuals is recorded on caseworking systems and is quality assured.

Official statistics on individuals resettled or relocated under the Afghan schemes is available in the immigration system statistics release.

For detailed data, see table Asy_D02 of the asylum and resettlement datasets.

For data on those in accommodation by location, see the regional and local authority immigration groups data tables.

This factsheet sets out the best available operational data, as of 31 August 2023.

Bridging accommodation

On 28 March 2023, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Johnny Mercer, announced that the government intended to give Notice to Quit to all resettled Afghans living in bridging accommodation and that all bridging accommodation would be closed by Autumn 2023. At the time this announcement was made there were over 8,000 Afghans living in bridging accommodation, around half were children and around half had been living in bridging accommodation for more than one year. At that time the Home Office had 55 hotels across the UK and serviced accommodation in 7 local authority areas and the cost to the taxpayer was c.£1 million a day. This was down from a peak of 84 hotels in use in October 2021.

From the end of April 2023, resettled Afghan families staying in hotels and serviced apartments began to receive Notices to Quit their bridging accommodation by a certain date. Residents received at least three months’ notice to make arrangements to leave their hotel or serviced accommodation, and were given clear guidance on the support they could access to help them find their own accommodation.

As of 31 August 2023 the Home Office has ended its existing bridging contracts with all bridging hotels and serviced accommodation sites.

Interim accommodation

As set out by Minister Mercer in a statement to Parliament on 18 July 2023 the Home Office will continue to provide interim accommodation to legally resettled Afghans up to 31 December 2023 if they meet one of two criteria: either where they need accommodation during the short period between the end of their notice period and the date on which their settled accommodation is ready for them to move into; or in cases of medical need where a family member requires continued attendance at a specific hospital.

The Home Office has entered into new contracts with a smaller number of hotels to facilitate this as well as providing ad hoc bookings in hotels the Home Office has not directly contracted as interim accommodation for families in other locations where moving to an interim hotel would be detrimental. In almost all cases the new contracts and ad hoc bookings are with hotels that were previously contracted to provide bridging accommodation.

Accommodation matching process

On 2 May 2023, the Home Office introduced a new ‘one offer’ accommodation matching process. Given the limited amount of accommodation available, most families are unlikely to receive an offer but where they do, under the new process, households will be made only one offer of suitable accommodation where this is available. If they choose to reject it, they will be required to make their own accommodation arrangements. Households have been supported in their decision making, and encouraged to accept the offer, by the Home Office Liaison Officers and local authority staff in their bridging accommodation.

Since May 2023 when the new one offer matching process was implemented, 74 households have refused accommodation offers. This is in addition to the 317 accommodation offers refused under the previous process.

Statistics, as of 31 August 2023

More than 85% of households in bridging accommodation at the end of March 2023 had been housed or matched to housing by the end of August 2023.

Bridging accommodation

Total in bridging accommodation: 0

Interim accommodation

Total in interim accommodation: 1,826

Of which 239 people (37 families) have been accommodated for medical reasons and 1,587 people (304 families) have been pre-matched to settled accommodation.

Hotels in use: 8 interim accommodation hotels with ad-hoc bookings in others where necessary to enable moves to settled accommodation.

Cost reduction of exiting bridging accommodation: c.£1 million a day no longer being spent on bridging accommodation.

Settled accommodation (since June 2021)

Total people housed (by a local authority): 10,404

Total people housed (in the private rental sector): 2,354

Total people housed (in Ministry of Defence properties): 485

Note that figures are based on information provided to the government by local authorities and Afghan families. However, families are not obliged to update on their living circumstances if they have moved on independently.

Homelessness duties

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has also been gathering survey data from local authorities in England on homelessness duties owed to Afghans leaving bridging accommodation. This data has been published in the Homelessness management information – Afghan nationals: England.

In summary the total number of Afghan households in this cohort in temporary accommodation under a homelessness duty in England as of 31 August was 188.

This represents less than 15% of households in bridging accommodation across the UK at the end of March 2023.

This is based on a voluntary survey to local authorities in England with a 74% response rate, of which 35% of local authorities had reported owing homelessness duties to Afghan households leaving bridging accommodation.

DLUHC will continue to monitor homelessness duties to this cohort going forwards and the Home Office will continue to publish statistics on resettlement schemes in the usual way.