New ‘Council of Elders’ model aims to remove barriers for refugee tenants often encountered in formal reporting processes
Refugee and migrant housing provider ACH has received government funding for refugee tenant engagement following the rise in hate crime and far-right activities across England in recent months.
A total of £76,442 from the latest round of the ‘social housing innovation fund’ will go towards piloting a new programme for engaging refugee tenants, known as ‘Trusted Voices: A Council of Elders Model for Refugee Talent Engagement’, which began in March 2026.
Delivered over 12 months throughout the Southwest and West Midlands, the project will bring together resident panels with refugees and migrants of all ages to mediate between tenants and housing staff.
Fuad Mahamed, chief executive of ACH, said: “Refugee tenants face significant barriers to providing meaningful feedback on social housing services. They include language differences, unfamiliarity with UK housing systems, experiences of trauma and fear of formal reporting processes.
“Traditional surveys, panels and official meetings are often associated with authority or surveillance, which suppresses people’s willingness to share candid and honest feedback, resulting in low quality or absent responses, and their voices not being truly heard or represented. Our Council of Elders model will provide the important, long-overdue step change that’s needed.”
In response to the rise in hate crime and far-right activities recorded in recent months, ACH-led safeguarding programmes in Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, and Wolverhampton revealed increasing fear among refugee tenants of formal agencies including councils and housing associations.
Backed by the government’s ‘community recovery fund’ initiative, feedback from these programmes recommended informal communication methods and intermediaries as possible solutions.
The programme also aims to develop scalable tools that can be adopted across the wider sector, such as a ‘Council of Elders toolkit’ and implementation guide that could help other providers engage underserved communities more effectively.
The initiative is expected to engage 250 to 300 tenants across the Southwest and West Midlands.
Igor, a current ACH tenant, said: “At the moment, issues are usually raised individually. However, through this initiative, tenants would have a dedicated council they can speak to, who can then represent their views in a unified manner for more impact.”
ACH said the programme’s success will be measured by increased participation, improved feedback quality, stronger tenant trust and confidence and tangible service improvements.
Hope Not Hate, which campaigns against far-right extremism, reported at least 251 anti-migrant events took place across 77 UK locations between June and December 2025.
No comments yet