Policy paper

Communities for Afghans phase 2: prospectus

Updated 17 March 2025

Grant summary

Purpose: Communities for Afghans (CfA) phase 2 aims to accommodate 500 Afghan households (approximately 2750 individuals) on the Afghan Resettlement Programmes by the end of March 2031. The aim is to provide households with the tools that they need to integrate into society and promote cohesion between households and their local communities so that they can participate fully in UK life.

Type of grant: Competed

Who can apply: Organisations must be aligned with the Voluntary and Community and Social Enterprise Sector (VCSE), registered in the UK. The organisation must be established for charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic purposes (see ‘Who can apply – in detail’ section). They must also:

• have a governing body with at least 3 members
• have a governing document they can produce
• have capacity to deliver an expected minimum of 125 sponsorship arrangements

Funding available: a total of £4.145 million for Principal Sponsors. Funding will be split across financial years from 2025 until 2031. This funding will be provided to administer the project. 

There will also be an upfront costs fund to cover things like rental deposits and upfront rent for the Principal Sponsor to manage, and a monthly Sponsor Group fund paid via the local authority, as well as a tariff per arrival paid to the local authority where the family settles.

Important dates

Applications open: 17 March 2025

Deadline for applications: 10 April 2025 at 11:59pm

Funding awarded: 3 June 2025

Introduction

We are inviting applications for this grant with the aim of partnering with one or more VCSE Principal Sponsors to lead phase 2 of the Communities for Afghans scheme. We will retain flexibility on this, depending on the bid and geographical coverage of those we receive. The Principal Sponsors would have primary responsibility for recruitment, and support of Sponsor Groups.

Principal Sponsors will recruit ’Sponsor Groups’ who support a resettled Afghan household by sourcing accommodation for a period of 3-years and providing integration support. The accommodation should meet local authority standards and be appropriate for the household. Sponsor Groups should support households with integration into society and local orientation. Most responsibilities and non-statutory duties for the scheme will be devolved to civil society. 

We expect Principal Sponsors to recruit and support Sponsor Groups through the scheme, by making sure they have appropriate training. Their role will also be to match Sponsor Groups and resettled households and provide specialist support as required, for example mental health provision. 

Grant objectives

The department will partner with up to 4 lead Principal Sponsors who will have primary responsibility for recruitment, of and support to Sponsor Groups (consortia of more than 4 organisations are eligible, but we do not intend to partner with more than 4 consortiums).

Principal Sponsors to deliver a service through Sponsor Groups to provide accommodation and support for Afghans who have arrived through a government resettlement route so that they can settle in the UK successfully.

Principal Sponsors can work directly with Sponsor Groups and/or partner with other organisations such as veterans’ charities and faith groups to expand capacity. In either case Principal Sponsors retain ultimate responsibility as part of the Grant Funding Agreement.

We would also consider applications from a consortium of organisations, as long as appropriate agreements are in place and one organisation is identified as the lead recipient for the Grant Funding Agreement.

Who can apply – in detail 

Charity: A registered charity with a UK charity number

Community group: A group which meets all the following criteria:   

• established for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes
• has a governing body with at least 3 members
• has a governing document which they are able to produce
• can provide accounts for the last 2 financial years

Community Interest Company: A special type of limited company which exists to benefit the community rather than private shareholders.  

Social enterprise: A business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.

Consortium: A group of applicants, with a designated lead partner to manage the programme, and a system for dividing the work and funds appropriately and effectively. The lead partner must be a charity or a community group with a charitable purpose.  

Organisations must be based in the United Kingdom and provide an offer that can cover England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.   

Funding available

A total fund of £4.145 million for Principal Sponsors which will be split between successful applicants across financial years 2025/2026 and 2030/2031. This funding is for the Principal Sponsor to administer the project. 

There will also be a separate fund available to Sponsor Groups to cover for upfront costs including (but not limited to) deposits, the first month’s rent and other initial costs, this will be £909 per person. Principal Sponsors will be asked to distribute this money to Sponsor Groups. There is no need to bid for this as it will form part of the Grant Funding Agreement. Please note there is no cap on household size.

Funding of £136 per person per month for 3 years is available for ongoing monthly costs, including help with rental costs for example. There is no cap on household size. This will be paid via the local authority.

What are we looking for 

We are looking for organisations to help and run local, regional or national projects. We welcome projects implementing innovative approaches as well as more established methods and interventions. We also welcome joint and consortium applications which have a named lead delivery partner.  

Project proposals can vary in budget and size. Organisations should show:

• their proposed reach and impact
• how you will track the reach and impact
• how you will share project learnings with MHCLG and other Principal Sponsors

We are keen to see proposals which work across multiple regions.  We anticipate that allocated funding will be proportionate across all potential Principal Sponsors. 

Project structure

Recruitment  

The Principal Sponsors will be required to find a number of Sponsor Groups, who in turn will support 500 households. 

The application should set out:

• the portion of the 500 households that they intend to support, supporting a minimum of 125 households before March 2031
• how they will work with other grant recipients to deliver collaboratively

Whilst the Department will lead the overarching communication campaign, Principal Sponsors will be expected to promote the campaign as well.  

Matching

Principal Sponsors will be expected to submit a plan on how they will match households to Sponsor Groups. This could include the Home Office continuing to lead on matching or other ideas such as lists of Sponsor Groups for households to self-match to or leading on matching an anonymised data set of households to appropriate accommodation. Until we have agreed a viable alternative, Home Office will lead the matching process.  

Safeguarding

The Principal Sponsors will be responsible for the safeguarding of Sponsor Groups and Afghan households. This will include DBS checks for all members of Sponsor Groups, as well as wellbeing checkpoints before and after households move in. We will expect to see detailed safeguarding plans. 

Training 

We intend to have a united training provider with the Home Office for Community Sponsorship and Communities for Afghans, with core training modules across both schemes, as well as additional scheme-specific modules. However, we may require Principal Sponsors to provide this training until a single training provider is stood up. 

Ongoing support and troubleshooting 

Principal Sponsors will provide general troubleshooting advice and ongoing support to Sponsor Groups.   

Reporting requirements

The Department will hold Principal Sponsors to account for the role and responsibilities set out above. Principal Sponsors will be required to provide regular reporting on a range of deliverables.

Principal Sponsors will initially be required to provide fortnightly case level monitoring data on a range of deliverables including (but not limited to):

• Sponsor Group registrations
• assurance and safeguarding checks
• accommodation availability
• matching and sponsorship breakdown

The monitoring data return will be shared with Principal Sponsors in advance. 

In addition, Principal Sponsors will also be required to submit quarterly progress reports to provide evidence of the success or otherwise in meeting the agreed objectives and KPIs. Principal Sponsors will also be required to provide quarterly spend reports. Principal Sponsors will be required to assists with reviews through the delivery period.

Assurance

The overarching principles would be that all checks are completed before people arrive to reduce breakdown between the Sponsor Group and family. Principal Sponsors should work jointly with Sponsor Groups to ensure checks are completed within a reasonable timeframe, and the process will minimise data flow. The approach to assurance would need to cover 5 key areas, both with checks and other forms, for example:

• training
• security
• suitability
• safeguarding
• accommodation
• fraud

Principal Sponsors should have an assurance process framework, a due diligence process, as well as a fraud risk assessment or prevention process. They should also ensure that these and any general risks are identified or mitigated with respect to delivery partners. This includes mitigation should a relationship break down or the Sponsor Group become unviable. This should also include exit plans at the end of the 3  years of support, to ensure households are able to be independent by the end of the scheme. 

Principal Sponsors should provide details of their approach to risk assessment. They should also have a risk register for the programme and deliverability, and know how risks will be mitigated, monitored, and managed.  

Recruitment of Sponsor Groups

The Principal Sponsors will be required to find a number of Sponsor Groups, who in turn will support 500 households. This may be fewer than 500 Sponsor Groups as Sponsor Groups may support more than 1 household.

The application should set out the portion of the 500 households that they intend to support as well as the minimum number they will accept. The minimum number MHCLG will accept is 125 households.

Applicants should also set out how they will work with other grant recipients to deliver collaboratively.

Whilst the Department will lead the overarching communication campaign, Principal Sponsors will be expected to promote the campaign as well. 

Assessment criteria

All bids will be assessed against the criteria set out in this specification and in the scoring criteria. The application form submitted by applicants forms the focus of each assessment, however applicants also submit additional documentation. These documents are taken into consideration where appropriate. We will look at:

• the organisation’s skills and experience
• programme design and delivery model for the project
• social value, including integration and well being
• fraud prevention and data protection
• risk mitigation and management
• plans for monitoring performance and evaluating delivery

The application form will consist of 8 sections.

Section 1: Application name  

This section is not assessed. 

We’ll ask you to name your application for ease of reference.

Section 2: About your organisation 

This section is unscored but will be used to assess the applicant’s eligibility.

We will ask for information about your organisation, including: 

• organisation name 
• organisation address 
• organisation’s main activities 
• organisation type 
• charity registration number (if applicable) 
• company registration number (if applicable)

We will ask for information on convictions and offences of your organisation and any person with powers of representation, decision or control in your organisation.

Section 3: Skills and experience

This section is worth 25% of your total score. We will ask for information about your skills and experience in delivering sponsorship or resettlement project including:

Section 4: Your project 

This section is worth 40% of your total score. We will ask for information about your project, including:

• a summary of your project and what you hope to achieve
• how many households you expect to support
• plans for how you will work with key partners

We’ll use it to assess your ability to deliver this project. 

Section 5: Risk and deliverability

This section is worth 25% of your total score. We will ask for information about the risk and deliverability of your project, including: 

• risks to the project 
• the likelihood of the risks 
• the impact of the risks 
• how you’ll mitigate the risks 
• your organisation’s governance structure

We’ll use it to assess your ability to deliver this project.  

Section 6: Value for money

This section is worth 10% of your total score. We will ask for information about the project’s value for money.  

Section 7: Social value

This section is not assessed. The Department aims to secure and maximise tangible social value benefits in accordance with The Social Value Model. We will ask you to explain how you plan to achieve social value through explicit delivery of this specific grant.

Section 8: Declarations

This section is not assessed. We will ask you to confirm that:

• your organisation adheres to the government code of conduct
• your organisation has a data handling process in place
• you have a bank account set up for your organisation
• your organisation’s safeguarding policies are up to date
• the information you have provided is accurate

Timeline

Applications open: 17 March 2025

Deadline for applications: 10 April 2025 at 11:59pm

Funding awarded: Funding will be awarded as soon as possible after applications have been assessed

We expect projects to begin delivery in August 2025.

Delivery of your project must be completed by 31 March 2031.

Roles and responsibilities

The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government will:

• assess bids against the assessment criteria
• complete due diligence checks on successful organisations
• notify bidders of funding decisions and announce successful bidders
• provide funding as agreed in the grant funding agreement
• establish and undertake monitoring and evaluation

If successful, you must:

• cooperate with due diligence checks
• sign a grant funding agreement
• deliver bids in line with agreed plans
• deliver bids to timescales and budget
• take part in monitoring and evaluation
• comply with the Subsidy Control Act 2022
• be responsible for providing the scheme in accordance with the UK’s international obligations in respect of subsidies
• work closely with other Principal Sponsors and share best practice

Apply for funding

Apply for grant funding to be a Principal Sponsor for the Communities for Afghans scheme. Applications will close at 11:59pm on 10 April 2025.

Read the Communities for Afghans phase 2: application guidance for more information about the application form and process.

Further details of the scheme are available:

• Communities for Afghans phase 2: policy document
• Communities for Afghans phase 2: supporting information