Long-term Housing Programme

Overview

In the global landscape of forced displacement, refugees often face immense challenges in their journey to rebuild their lives and regain stability. One of the most pervasive issues is the difficulty in accessing safe and sustainable housing in the private rented sector.

The requirements for potential tenants to pay a large deposit and several months’ rent in advance, provide a guarantor and references, have some form of credit history in the U.K., and discriminatory practices based on nationality and refugee status all serve as significant impediments. 

While local authorities can provide accommodation, in actuality; backlogs often mean the process is extraordinarily slow and sometimes inaccessible altogether. When properties are available, they can be in a different area — effectively uprooting refugees from areas in which they’ve settled, and putting long distances between home and school for children and home and work for parents.

We cannot let desperate refugees who have fled war, endured trauma, and arrived here entrusting their safety to us to fall into homelessness. This will only lead to more hardship and a serious safeguarding risk for mothers, children, and the elderly. 

How can we help?

We believe that access to sustainable housing is not just a roof over one's head; it's a cornerstone for rebuilding lives shattered by displacement — and a vital step toward reclaiming independence.

Our transformative Long-term Housing Programme provides interest-and-fee free loans to refugees. This service actively works to dismantle the systemic barriers that hinder refugees from securing a safe and permanent place to call home, and represents a powerful step towards overcoming the obstacles which perpetuate their marginalisation. 

We can:

Loan the required up-front rent to secure the property

Loan the required tenancy deposit

Serve as a guarantor for a period up to 12 months

Under our Homestart Initiative, loan furniture for as long as required

How does it work?

1

Request

A direct request from the refugee/referral from a third-sector partner is made. This includes the completion of our LTHP Questionnaire, which collects all pertinent information about the applicant’s circumstances and requirements.

2

Assessment

Our team conducts a detailed assessment of the applicant’s financial standing — including specific grant and benefit entitlement from the relevant local authority — to ascertain the precise range of affordability for the private rented sector.

3

Once a suitable property has been identified, and once we ascertain what support the relevant local authority is offering, we can (a) pay the required deposit, (b) pay the required up-front rent, and (c) serve as a guarantor for a period of 12 months.

Securing the Property

4

Repayment

With the applicant, we carefully arrange an affordable and sustainable repayment plan for all funds we advanced to secure the property in question — all on an interest-and-fee free basis. The applicant and landlord also sign the required legal documentation.

5

Furniture

If the chosen property is unfurnished, we can — with the support of our generous corporate partners — lend furniture to the applicant for as long as required under our Homestart Initiative — all on an interest-and-fee free basis.

Moving forward, the applicant pays their own rent — usually supported by the housing element of Universal Credit. 100% of the funds are cycled back into helping other refugees find safe homes in the private rented sector.

What happens next?

The requisite deposit is protected in a Deposit Protection Scheme for the entire duration of the applicant’s tenancy.

To ensure that we are able to keep helping other families, we require repayment within the first 3 months of your tenancy. 

If required, we can support the applicant with completing their Universal Credit application, and obtaining a ‘Share code’ to evidence their right to rent.   

Eligibility

If you would like long-term accommodation in the U.K under our Long-term Housing Programme, you must:

  • Be a Ukrainian (🇺🇦) national with valid leave to remain under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, Family Scheme, or Ukraine Extension Scheme

  • Be an Afghan (🇦🇫) national with valid leave to remain under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, Ex Gratia Scheme, or Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme

  • Be an Ethiopian (🇪🇹), Iraqi (🇮🇶), Iranian (🇮🇷), Sudanese (🇸🇩), South Sudanese (🇸🇸), Syrian (🇸🇾), Eritrean (🇪🇷), or Yemeni (🇾🇪) national with valid leave to remain under the UK Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship, Mandate Scheme, or Family Reunion Policy

Would you like help?

If you are in need of assistance, or for any other queries regarding our Long-term Housing Programme, please email us at longterm@nadiya.org.uk.

Please note that we are experiencing significant demand and we will aim to respond WITHIN 48 hours.

“My family and I are sincerely grateful to you for your very important help, thanks to which we were able to rent our first private house in England”

Oleksandr, from Ukraine, with his wife Olha, son Mark and daughter Veronika at their new home in Braintree, England.

Feedback

FAQs

  • At the moment, we can only offer guidance and tips — and we would be happy to speak to landlords and agents on your behalf. We are actively working on a few initiatives to build a reserve of suitable housing stock, and hopefully in the future we’ll be able to play a closer role in the property search process. However, if you’re really stuck and can’t find anything suitable, please contact us.

  • Our ultimate aim is to open up the Long-term Housing Programme to all nationalities, including young British families struggling with credit and affordability issues. If you’re not in the list of eligible nationalities, please contact us — we may still be able to help.

  • No, there is no charge whatsoever. This is a completely free service. All loans that we advance are interest-and-fee free.