Property portals Rightmove, Zoopla and OTM have become unofficial partners in the Government’s plans to rehouse Afghan refugees, it has been reported.

The two portals have been name-checked within Home Office advice to recent arrivals from the Taliban-run country fleeing for their lives.

Priti Patel’s Home Office team have given the surprising advice after official attempts to house Afghan’s have struggled, with re-housing candidates now told to look for homes within the private sector.

Since the US, UK and other western countries exited Afghanistan last year, thousands of its 9,500 former nationals moved to flee their homeland to the UK have been staying in hotels, of which 7,000 have moved on to more permanent accommodation.

But the remaining 2,000 must now run the gauntlet of finding homes to let within the private rented sector, bidding against UK citizens with usually larger pockets for properties.

Portals

A Home Office spokesperson told The Guardian newspaper: “The use of hotels to house those resettling from Afghanistan is a temporary solution, and we continue to work with over 350 local authorities to move Afghan families from hotels to permanent accommodation as quickly as possible.

“To support the resettlement of Afghan families, local authorities are given £20,520 per person over a three-year period. They have the flexibility to use this funding to contribute towards renting accommodation, including deposits, letting fees and furnishing.”

But only a few weeks a Government spokesperson admitted that, while only some 100 social housing properties were currently available nationally, some 500 Afghan refugees are arriving every month.

Read more about Afghan refugees.