NFDC signs £1.87m deal with government to provide homes for Ukrainian and Afghan families
A DOZEN homes for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees will be bought by the district council in the New Forest with the help of a £1.87m government grant.
The properties will be kept in the authority's general housing stock once the families have found a permanent place to live, a council report promised.
The decision was signed off by Cllr Edward Heron, cabinet member for housing and homelessness services, using cash from the central Local Authority Housing Fund.
A report said a "case exists" to participate in the nationwide housing programme for the "local benefits" it will provide to migrant families in the Forest.
It added: "However, once families are repatriated and needs from the cohort have been addressed, the homes can be retained to provide a lasting supply of accommodation to relieve homelessness and housing pressures."
The money is from a £500m government fund set up in December last year to deliver 4,000 new homes across 182 council areas to "help mitigate added pressures on... homeless resources".
Officers said the government initiative builds on the Homes for Ukraine scheme which has helped to rehouse more than 150,000 Ukrainians nationwide.
NFDC will secure the dwellings through purchasing private properties or former council homes through the Buy Back scheme.
It said the process would work "without compromising the existing affordable housing development programme".