Plans for multimillion-pound refugee homes in Shropshire approved

Plans to spend £7.2m on homes for refugees on the brink of homelessness have been approved by councillors.

Shropshire Council will use the funds to purchase up to 30 properties for displaced Ukrainian and Afghan families in the region.

The housing project was unanimously backed by councillors at a full council meeting on Thursday.

Up to £3.2m of the funding will come from a government grant, with the council borrowing the remaining amount.

An additional £750,000 will be funded through investment collected from developers, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The properties will be managed by Shropshire Towns and Rural (STAR) Housing, which is responsible for managing the provision of social homes in the county.

The council hoped to move quickly to secure the properties, as any remaining budget unspent by November would have to be returned.

The authority has been accommodating 14 families in bed and breakfasts under the Homes for Ukraine programme, which saw 380 sponsor homes across the count accept 700 people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Conservative councillor Dean Carroll said the homes would remain as a means of affordable general housing to meet wider needs in the future once the requirement for refugee housing had passed.

"This will provide up to 30 homes that will be used for re-housing of Ukrainian and Afghan households that we have accepted within the county, who are, or are at risk of becoming, statutory homeless," he explained.

He confirmed 26 of the properties would be allocated to Ukrainian families, with the remaining four properties allocated to Afghan families who were currently residing in temporary accommodation.

Labour councillor Tony Parsons also welcomed the proposals, adding that his group "strongly" supported the new homes and that the decision would assist refugees who had previously been sponsored by local residents, before a change in circumstances.

"It's good to see we are looking to make more provision than we are already doing for refugees who are fleeing war and terror," he said.

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