Press

When I arrived in the UK as a refugee 20 years ago I found a lot of goodwill, but a system which was fragmented and lacking focus on long-term integration.  

Our CEO, Fuad Mahamed, blogs for 24housing on how Housing Associations can empower and integrate refugee tenants. This blog was published on 03/10/17. 

Ashley Community Housing is working with Bristol City Council to provide an innovative solution to housing refugees in the city. 

Bristol City Council has agreed to lease three properties to ACH so that they can be used for move on accommodation as part of their refugee resettlement programme. All three properties required extensive repair and refurbishment and the cost of this was funded by ACH. In return, the Council agreed to grant leases for 10 years at peppercorn rents in order that ACH could fund the repair work.

First aired 21/09/2017 on BBC Points West. 

ACH have been working with Bristol City Council to fill empty homes in the city. Hussan tells his story. 

“There is a huge problem with homelessness in Bristol and, in particular, people who are refugees,” says Said Mohamed, housing manager for ACH. 

“We accommodate single homeless people in shared accommodation. We have been finding it difficult getting properties, mainly because we rely on long term leases from landlords, but with the current market and a shortage of housing, it meant we could not house as many people as we want to." 

Article in Bristol 24/7 on 21/09/2017 

Ashley Community Housing have been working with Bristol City Council. 

Properties standing empty and dilapidated in Bristol have been brought back to life to provide badly-needed homes for refugees in the city. 

Article in Bristol 24/7 on 14/09/2017. 

Ashley Community Housing have been shortlisted for the Positive Social Impact award in the Lloyds National Business Awards 2017. 

Article in The Bristol Magazine 24/07/17. 

We were pleased to be asked to write a blog for the Chartered Institute of Housing about our #rethinkingrefugee campaign.

This blog was published on 05/06/17. 

A new funding model to help refugees across the UK has been introduced by Ashley Community Housing. 

ACH differs from many Housing Associations in that it currently works on a leasehold model, leasing residential properties from private landlords and local Councils in order to be able to quickly react to need... 

Housing providers have for a long time helped those in most need, from those who are homeless to those with mental health issues. Now refugees are needing the same help. 

Children by their very nature need love, care and protection. Lord Alf Dub’s amendment to the immigration act, which ensured Theresa May’s government let in the most vulnerable people from countries such as Syria, was a firm step in the right direction.