Rent a Room to a Refugee is Penrith and Eden Refugee Network’s new scheme to connect landlords and new refugees in the Carlisle area to help prevent refugees becoming street homeless.

Becoming street homeless is a real risk. Once a person gets refugee status, they also quickly receive 28 days notice to leave the accommodation they have been placed in, and need to find their own place to live. This can be very difficult, especially for solo men as they are not top of the list to be housed by the council. Some new refugees, having had a good experience living in Carlisle and after having made friends, want to remain local. This is where local people with a spare room (our ‘landlords’ on the scheme) come in!

Local people in Carlisle, West Cumbria or the surrounding area who have a spare room and would like to rent it out can register to be connected to a refugee lodger. The refugees that we connect are single people (or people with a partner overseas) who will pay a fair rent for lodging, but with “excluded tenancy’” rights. Refugees have the right to work and can receive benefits including housing benefit. Landlords can receive rental income tax-free (up to £7500 a year), and have the privilege of helping someone stay in the area that they want to live in and build a life.

Below is a link to the Rent a Room to a Refugee poster – please do feel free to download, print and share with your community:
Rent a Room Poster PDF    /  Rent a Room Poster PNG