A couple who left their home in Kyiv in February to escape conflict have returned due to costs and conditions in the UK.
Joe Place, from Sheffield, and his wife Irina, had received a Ukraine Family Scheme visa and secured jobs in the country. However they struggled to find a permanent home, because their job status meant they couldn't apply for the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
The 29-year-old Mr Place was house-hopping between family and friends after arriving in the UK with his wife, but when looking for a long-term place to live he was met with "terrible" housing conditions, high costs and rental requirements they could not meet. They have now decided to return to Ukraine and are now living in the western city of Uzhhorod.
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Mr Place said: "This comes to the problem that everyone in the UK seems to be facing with finding [a rental.] We doubled our budget and more.
"We had a very strict list of requirements and we just kept going 'OK, well, compromise on this, compromise on this, compromise on this'. Anything we got even remotely close to getting was just terrible."
The couple, who met while they were both teaching English in Ukraine in 2019, will continue to go "back and forth" to the UK to see friends and family but said they cannot afford to stay long term. Mr Place said it would cost them up to £1,500 a month to rent in the UK, compared with £500 in Ukraine, and housing agencies and landlords were asking for a previous year's tax statement or six months of income in a UK bank account, which they could not provide.
He said money the couple already had in their Ukrainian bank accounts was not accepted and landlords had been repeatedly turning down their applications. Mr Place added: "The west of Ukraine, where it's safer, the house prices have gone up quite a lot and the rents have gone up - a lot of the locals struggle.
"But obviously for us coming from the UK ... this is still really affordable." Despite being on a Ukraine Family Scheme visa, the couple did not receive the same amount of support from the government as those on the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Mr Place said: "It's been incredible (the Homes for Ukraine scheme) I hope we continue this approach for other crises. But I do think there was a bit more support for that scheme.
"With the family scheme there is a presumption that you will just stay with a spouse or child or people already settled here. No, we've just uprooted our entire lives to come to the UK, we could also do with some help."
Mr Place said there is a "possibility" he and his wife will decide to return to the UK next spring, but they do not want to plan far ahead because of the war. He added: "For now we are quite happy being here."
A government spokesperson said: "Taken together, our generous Homes for Ukraine and Ukraine Family schemes are one of the fastest and biggest visa programmes in UK history, with over 196,000 visas issued and more expected to come through these uncapped routes.
"We expect Ukrainians entering the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme to be primarily supported by family members, but they are also entitled to three years' leave to remain and full access to work, study and benefits - including Universal Credit.
"Local authorities have a duty to provide support to people on the family scheme, including homelessness where required."
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