Nearly 200 Afghanistan refugees set to be moved out of hotels in and around Northampton soon

Nearly 200 Afghanistan refugees currently living in two Northampton hotels are set to be moved out in the coming months.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has confirmed that 178 Afghan refugees will leave their temporary hotel accommodations by the end of August.

One of the two hotels, which this newspaper has chosen not to name, is now taking bookings again from September 5 onwards. The other hotel is not yet taking new bookings after August.

Councillor David Smith, cabinet member for community safety, engagement and regulatory services, said in a report that WNC will continue to support families to secure their own accommodation.

He said: “Since the announcement in Parliament that all bridging accommodation would be closing, the residents have received notice to quit by the end of August. There are currently 178 Afghans across our two bridging hotels.

“We continue to assist families to secure their own accommodation. We now have fulfilled five of our pledged properties, with another two to three underway currently.”

There have been a large number of refugees and asylum seekers placed in temporary accommodation across West Northamptonshire in the last couple of years.

The area has seen hotels used as part of an Afghanistan resettlement programme, as well as the Home Office’s wider asylum contingency accommodation.

On the asylum contingency hotels, Cllr Smith said: “We continue to regularly engage with the organisations that are providing the support for those in both hotels currently in West Northants. Regular review meetings are taking place with our partners around emerging issues and concerns.”

There are also three hotels in West Northamptonshire being used for the Home Office asylum contingency accommodation scheme.

A Home Office spokesman previously said: “The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels and has put our asylum system under incredible strain.

“The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6 million a day.”

Back in December 2022, the council confirmed around 250 Afghan refugees continued to be housed in two hotels in West Northamptonshire, meaning some have been in temporary accommodation for more than a year.

In total, there were more than 600 asylum seekers and refugees currently in temporary accommodation in West Northamptonshire in January. There are 250 Afghan refugees and more than 350 asylum seekers.

This is thought to be the highest number in any area across the East Midlands.

Some of those escaping war in Ukraine have also fled to the area to stay with generous hosts.

Councillor Smith said in a report that there are currently around 500 Ukrainian refugees living in West Northants.

He said: “We have now seen closer to 800 Ukrainians arriving across West Northants, and still maintain around 500 residing in West Northants, although some of these have now moved on from sponsor accommodation and into the private rented accommodation.

"We continue to visit every household at the six and twelve-month mark, to ensure that the guests are still resident, there are no safeguarding concerns, and any issues can be addressed.”