Almost one-fifth of UK homeowners with a spare room in their property would be open to the prospect of having a refugee stay in their home for a short period, according to research conducted by eMoov.co.uk.
In conjunction with Opinion Matters, the online estate agent surveyed over 1,000 British homeowners and found that 17% would consider taking in a refugee.
Temporary help
Of those homeowners with a spare room that said they would be open to the idea of housing a refugee, 14% said they would do so for between one and three months. 2% said they would help out for under a month, with 1% saying they would house a refugee for over three months.[1]
Prime Minister David Cameron is coming under increasing pressure to act on the worsening crisis. Although the research carried out by e.Moov.co.uk suggests that some Britain’s would be happy to offer temporary help, a long-term answer is desperately needed in Europe.
Destitute
Russell Quirk, founder and CEO of eMoov.co.uk, said that, ‘those that receive refugee status in the UK will be provided with somewhere to stay, however it is estimated some 200,000 additional asylum seekers are still living destitute in the UK.’[1]
‘The British public have a great tendency to club together in times of need and the sentiment of our research highlights this. Although it isn’t as straight forward as taking in ½ million refugees and housing them in spare rooms, it is humbling to see how many home owners would consider opening their doors to complete strangers out of the kindness of their hearts,’ Quirk added.[1]
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/a-fifth-of-homeowners-would-welcome-a-refugee.html