A COUNCIL is concerned over the “demand and supply” of accommodation amid pressure to resettle refugees fleeing crisis in Afghanistan.

Conwy County Borough Council is yet to review whether it will accept more refugees under the UK Government’s Afghan Relocation Assistance Policy (ARAP) after concerns were raised over the availability of temporary and affordable accommodation and the capacity of its housing team.

“Cabinet members are monitoring the situation closely,” a council spokesperson said.

“They have agreed to carry on with settling the one family and will review the position after that, given our existing problems with demand and supply of suitable properties.”

Denbighshire County Council’s cabinet has agreed to resettle a total of five families and expressed a potential commitment of relocating a further five, dependent on further UK Government funding. Meanwhile Gwynedd Council has agreed to accept a total of six individual refugees, with more expected over the coming weeks or months.

ARAP is based on local authorities volunteering to support refugees with central government funding for 12 months.

Local authority housing teams are expected to arrange accommodation, which is mostly taking place in line with the private sector, and provide advice and assistance with employment, health and education, school places and cash support.

A report by Conwy council officers into the ARAP last month said the capacity of its 12-strong housing team “is not enough to deliver” the scheme, with officers at that time managing a total of 618 cases – between 37 and 82 cases each.

The report also warned of “a high level of demand” for affordable housing, with a low supply of single and family units.

In Conwy, there are 1,288 households on the Common Housing Register and 283 households or 556 people currently in temporary accommodation

Within the last 12 months 496 applicants have been permanently rehoused, which has slowed due to market pressures caused by the pandemic.

“The current housing market is challenging, with private sector rents largely unaffordable for many of the households we are trying to assist,” the report said.

The resettlement programme is different to the Asylum Dispersal pilot scheme that Conwy joined in 2017, in which accommodation and support were provided for one refugee family by a third party funded the Home Office.

Conwy has also previously accommodated five families as part of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

During a cabinet meeting on August 10, deputy leader Louise Emery, Conwy’s cabinet member for economic development and leisure, said she was worried about Conwy residents’ need for accommodation.

She said that in addition to ARAP, the council had been requested to take part in the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) scheme, which prioritises children and young people who have been separated from their parents or carers and are seeking asylum in the UK.

“Obviously this is not the first of the requests, and there’s a lot of people that do need our support, but of course we have a lot of people that also live within our county that need our support with housing,” she said.

“Although it may seem a bit mean being one family, I think that’s realistic as well.

“With the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children we’re also being asked again to accommodate people.

“I think [ARAP] is a good scheme, and that one family I’m sure will want to engage with the community and I’m sure they will want to work, and there’s plenty of jobs for the at the moment in Conwy.”