Bulford Camp, Wiltshire

The Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford Garrison comprises 16 separate barracks on Salisbury Plain and is one of the largest concentrations of British Army accommodation in the country. Bulford Camp itself is split between modern barrack blocks and a stock of surplus Service Family Accommodation that the Ministry of Defence has used to absorb capacity shortfalls in other government resettlement schemes.

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) is for Afghan citizens who worked for or with the UK Government in Afghanistan in exposed or meaningful roles. As of 1 July 2025, ARAP closed to new applications, although existing applications submitted before that date continue to be processed. In December 2024 the Government launched the unified Afghan Resettlement Programme bringing the existing schemes into a single pipeline^[3]GOV.UK.

Wiltshire Council confirms it actively supports the Government in delivering the scheme, including providing resettlement, integration and support services for Afghan families housed at Wiltshire MoD sites pending dispersal into civilian housing^[2]Council.

This Is Wiltshire reported that the MoD property currently in use at Bulford Camp is transitional service family accommodation temporarily housing Afghans under the Afghan Resettlement Policy. The accommodation had been operating since December 2023, and the article noted that one local recalled there had been no problems when Afghan families evacuated during the August 2021 withdrawal from Kabul were previously housed in the area^[1]Press. BBC News separately reported that MoD military sites including Wiltshire bases had been earmarked for asylum accommodation alongside the existing Afghan use^[4]Press.

Bulford Camp is run by the Ministry of Defence on the existing garrison estate. The costs land on the MoD Afghan resettlement budget rather than on the £170 per person per night Home Office asylum hotel benchmark, and we deliberately set the per-day cost to zero in our lifecycle data so the live Home Office hotel spending counter does not double-count this site. The House of Commons Library briefing on UK immigration schemes for Afghan nationals sets out the funding split between the schemes^[3]GOV.UK.