Appeal for Unoccupied Properties and Spare Rooms
25 November 2022
The Room for Refugees Network is appealing for spare rooms and unoccupied properties across Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.

We are appealing to members of the public who own unoccupied properties to make them available to house those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The Room for Refugees Network currently assists refugees from across the world, including Ukraine, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Yemen. It has arranged shelter through its volunteer hosts for over 4,000 refugees. Its Ukraine Programme has sheltered 405 Ukrainian war refugees, with a backlog of 2,000.
Robina Qureshi, Director of Positive Action in Housing, which pioneered Room for Refugees - the longest running refugee hosting programme in the UK - said:
“Refugee numbers are set to grow because of war, conflict and climate change. We are very concerned about potential homelessness arising for Ukrainian refugees, because of poorly set up hosting arrangements, and increased reliance on hotels, barracks and ships, where people can end up staying for months or in some cases, years.
“The UK badly needs to change its approach to housing refugees from a costly, emergency response to one that’s able to address this into the future. Dog whistle strategies like Manston and the Rwanda policy don’t work. They are costly, cause misery, self harm and incite violence. Ultimately, we as a society are paying the price in lost taxes, legal challenges and long term mental and physical health problems.
“The government must provide safe routes and long term strategies instead of finding new ways of hurting people fleeing war, torture and human trafficking. And where we don’t deal with it, a tiny sliver of a fraction of the world’s refugees will risk their lives in desperation to get here.”
For those with unoccupied properties and spare rooms, please register with us at www.roomforrefugees.com. For more information, email home@positiveactionh.org