A safe haven in Buckinghamshire

After months of careful planning and discussions with the Home Office and local Housing Association, Fairhive, three Afghan families are moving into vacant Ministry of Defence properties in Buckinghamshire this week with a further six families joining them in the next two weeks. Due to their work with the British Military, each of these families are eligible to move into Ministry of Defence houses. The properties are being paid for by the families who are in receipt of housing allowance under Universal Credit.

Catastrophic events in Afghanistan back in 2021 left women, children and men in the country feeling vulnerable and fearing for their lives. During the evacuation of Kabul (Operation Pitting) Afghan nationals and UK citizens managed to leave the country, looking to rebuild their lives in the UK. The second anniversary of Operation Pitting is today (24 August).

All of the families who arrived in Buckinghamshire arrived as part of the Afghan Resettlement Scheme. They were either locally employed staff, meaning they worked with the British Military or at British Embassy, or had helped the UK efforts in Afghanistan standing up for values such as democracy, women’s rights, freedom of speech, and rule of law.

Buckinghamshire Council is helping all these families to integrate into their new communities and build a new life - ensuring they do not feel isolated and have the support they need - receiving help with medical needs, arranging English lessons, finding jobs, and getting children into education. Continued wrap-around support has meant the settled Afghan families are doing exceptionally well with most in employment, children thriving in school and families settled in their communities.

Councillor Mark Winn, Cabinet Member for homelessness said: “I am really proud that Buckinghamshire Council has committed to protecting this group of people who would have been highly vulnerable due to their work supporting UK forces in Afghanistan. I have experience through working on an overseas operation myself [in the former Yugoslavia] of the type of support locally employed people gave to our military forces and therefore totally understand how exposed they would have felt had they stayed in their own country. The council is committed to keeping people safe from vulnerable situations, which is why we continue to work hard, together with our partners, to welcome and support people arriving here from Afghanistan and other war-torn countries who are in urgent need of protection.”

Matthew Applegate, Chief Executive of Fairhive added: “We are proud to partner with Buckinghamshire Council on such an important project. We have already housed a number of displaced Afghan families in our own properties, and we therefore understand their housing and support needs.

Fairhive acts as the landlord for these nine properties and they will be managed in much the same way as our existing housing stock. Household members will have the same access to all of the services we provide, such as welfare benefits support, help to get on-line, advice and guidance about tenancy conditions and opportunities to work with us as involved residents.”