Issue details

The Syrian Resettlement Team delivers the Vulnerable Person’s Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) on behalf of the Home Office. The cost of the scheme is fully funded by the Home Office.
The LA identifies a property and pays rent on the property and then the Home Office matches a refugee family from the Middle East and North African region to resettle in the UK. The Home Office budget is used to fund the rent for the property until the new family arrives and is in receipt of benefits. This can be six months full rental costs. In addition the budget funds the deposit and the difference between the rental cost and the tenant contribution and overall the VPRS budget fund 50% of rental costs.
Home Turf Lettings (a subsidiary of DHI Bath) sourced 20 properties to house the first 20 VPRS families and now manage the properties on behalf of landlords. The VPRS pay Home Turf Lettings a management fee which is 20% of the value of the rent for each property. In total £446,040 will have been paid to Home Turf lettings since the inception of VPRS.
From September 2017, the Syrian Resettlement Team decided to source accommodation inhouse. The Syrian Resettlement Team uses the Bristol Credit Union to collect rents from tenants and to make monthly rental payments to landlords. In August 2019, the Syrian Resettlement Team is renting 52 properties owned by private sector landlords. The Bristol Credit Union charges a management fee of £10 per account per month. From January 2018 – August 2019 the Bristol Credit Union have been funded £12,750 for their management fees. In August 2019 the Bristol credit union is managing 61 tenant accounts and 52 landlord accounts.