Council receives £1.4m for new social housing for homeless and resettlement in Banbury and Bicester areas

Cherwell District Council has been given £1.4m by the government’s Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF). Councillors are expected to agree passing management to the South Oxfordshire Housing Association (SOHA) to buy or build eight homes.

Four of these will be earmarked for those in temporary accommodation and four for Afghans being resettled in this country. These will be Afghans who helped British and US armed services during their occupation of Afghanistan and were forced to leave their homeland after the western withdrawal.

The LAHF was established by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in 2022-23 to help local authorities respond to new and emerging housing pressures from resettlement schemes.

The council has successfully accessed Round 1 and 2 of this funding. It has plans to deliver 56 units as part of these two schemes. This includes the refurbishment of Town Centre House, Banbury.

A third round of funding has been made available and the council was successful in an initial bid and a later top up bid totalling £1.4m.

The housing will be an improvement to the range and nature of social tenancies throughout the district, supporting low-income households.

A report to next Monday’s (April 7) Executive Committee says: “The proposed partnership with SOHA is an expansion of existing similar schemes funded through previous LAHF Round 2 and a scheme using Council Section 106 commuted sums. It involves a grant contribution towards the purchase price of the accommodation.

"In return, SOHA manage the property and provide it for our usage... temporary accommodation, relieving homelessness pressures, or for resettlement families that are being assisted through the various government resettlement pathways.

“The grant of £1.4m will provide eight units of accommodation with four units to be used as temporary accommodation for households owed a homelessness duty by the council, and four units to be initially let (at first let only) to those on Afghan resettlement schemes. These units will all be delivered by the end of March 2026 in accordance with grant conditions.

"Delivering more social housing in district is a key objective and providing suitable, self-contained, housing for those in temporary accommodation is important.”