More than half of Ukrainian refugees struggle to find affordable rental accommodation after moving on from living with their host families, according to research published a year on from the launch of the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
In the past year more than 117,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK under the hosting scheme. Another 49,000 have arrived to join relatives who were already living here.
But practical problems face those who need to move on from the accommodation offered by UK sponsors and find themselves unable to rent or secure social housing. A survey of 325 Ukrainian refugees carried out by Generation Rent and the charity Opora, which supports Ukrainians in the UK, found that 49% had been unable to provide a guarantor when looking for somewhere to rent and 43% had been unable to find money for a tenancy deposit.
British host families were asked to make an initial six-month commitment to accommodate refugees from Ukraine, and many have been unable to extend that invitation into a more permanent arrangement as the conflict has continued. A total of 4,630 Ukrainian refugee households have been classified as homeless after a relationship with their host family came to an end.
The latest data shows a 44% increase in the number of Ukrainians presenting as homeless in the last month, according to the Local Government Association.
A number of anniversary events this week have celebrated the achievements of the scheme, which was rolled out just 18 days after the start of the war and under which 71% of Ukrainian refugees in the UK are being hosted by people who were strangers beforehand, according to the Sanctuary Foundation, one of the main matching organisations helping hosts to find refugees.
Krish Kandiah, the Sanctuary Foundation’s founder, describes the scheme as an overwhelming success, adding that it is “the largest UK response to a refugee crisis since the historic Kindertransport of 1939”. He hopes the programme will become a template for wider refugee sponsorship programmes, arguing that it has saved £4.4bn of taxpayers’ money because the government has not had to pay for hotel accommodation (unlike the Afghan resettlement programme, which saw those rescued from Kabul placed in hotels).
But other organisations have called on the government to focus on the practical difficulties facing those who need to find independent housing. Stan Beneš, managing director of Opora, said: “This research makes it clear that Ukrainian refugees are currently facing a disproportionately high level of structural barriers in accessing the private rented sector. People are having to settle for properties that are clearly not suitable for sustainable rebuilding of lives, as reflected in the percentage reporting damp and mould, and unaddressed disrepair.”
Anastasia Salnikova, who runs the J&C Soul group for Ukrainian refugees which supports families living in unsuitable temporary accommodation, said: “Often the council tells them they need to find and rent their own flats, knowing that they can’t do it. They feel abandoned.”
She is supporting Anna Didenko, her husband, Dmytro, and their two children, Yaroslav, 10 and Bohdan, one, who have been sleeping on bunkbeds in a small room in a shared house shared in Hounslow since last July, when their original sponsor found himself unable to continue hosting them. They were told by the council the placement would just be for two or three weeks, but they have been there for almost eight months, sharing a kitchen with seven other households.
“We’re happy to be here, away from the danger, but we feel neglected and ignored,” said Didenko, an accountant from Kyiv. Despite numerous visits to estate agents, their attempts to rent privately have been unsuccessful because they do not have the income or deposit required. There is no room for a table in the room, and their older son is struggling to do his homework on the top bunk. “It’s impossible to make any plans. Our situation feels humiliating and demoralising.”
A government spokesperson said: “In the year since we launched Homes for Ukraine we have welcomed 117,100 people to safety thanks to the generosity of British families across the country. All guests can work and access benefits and local authorities have a legal duty to ensure no families are left without housing.
“We are giving councils funding for each Homes for Ukraine guest and have recently also extended and increased ‘thank you’ payments for sponsors. Just yesterday we announced £1m to help Ukrainians improve their English and unlock employment opportunities.”
