Purpose

Decision Taken:

Council confirmation to move forward with leasing 7 properties offered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the purpose of rehousing Afghan families under the Afghan Relocation Assistance Policy (ARAP).

Reasons for Decision:

Kingston has agreed to take 32 individuals from Afghanistan under the ARAP programme. The duty for the council includes providing the Afghan arrivals with suitable accommodation and an integration support package.

The paper outlining this obligation and requirements for the council is here: https://moderngov.kingston.gov.uk/documents/s93573/Afghan%202021%20Resettlement%20Paper%20ARAP%20ACRS.pdf

The lease payments are funded by rental income received from the tenants.
Repairs to the properties to make them habitable and to the required standard are funded by the rental income and the ‘ARAP Tariff’ (funding provided by the Home Office to the council per person)

Ongoing maintenance will be funded by rental income by letting out the properties to Afghan ARAP families and the tariff received from the Home to resettle Afghan families upon arrival into Kingston.