More than 1,800 Ukrainians – including children – who arrived under UK visa schemes are currently receiving homelessness support from local councils, i can reveal.
Data released to i under freedom of information laws from late January to mid-February reveals the scale of homelessness among Ukrainian refugees who fled the war under schemes that promised safety in the UK.
Many of the arrivals, who came under both the Homes for Ukraine and Ukraine Family Scheme, are being housed in temporary accommodation by local authorities because their sponsorship arrangements have broken down.
Eight million Ukrainians fled to Europe following Russia’s invasion, which marks its first anniversary on Friday. The UK has so far issued 219,400 visas under both the schemes, which are uncapped, and 162,000 people have arrived.
The Government’s own figures show that 4,295 Ukrainian households in England have been homeless at some point since the start of the war on 24 February 2022. The vast majority of the households – nearly 3,000 – include children.
One Ukrainian mother told i she had ended up in a temporary hostel with drug users and sleeping in one room with her son, after her Homes for Ukraine sponsorship broke down.
A young Ukrainian woman also said she had resorted to finding a guarantor on Facebook to enable her to access a private rental, when she could no longer stay with her relative under the Ukraine Family Scheme.
The British Red Cross, the UK’s leading refugee provider, has warned that many Ukrainians in the UK have been plunged into a “precarious housing situation” by the Homes for Ukraine and Ukraine Family Schemes and said the Government must provide urgent support.
In a new report seen exclusively by i, the body found that “the impact of the cost of living, changing circumstances for hosts and guests, inappropriateness of accommodation, failure to be re-matched with other hosts, all underpinned by the fact people were initially asked to host for only six months” had contributed to severe housing pressures for Ukrainians.
It warned that many Ukrainians cannot turn to the UK’s private rental market because many landlords require a UK-based guarantor, references from previous landlords or a hefty deposit. These factors come on top of the UK’s existing housing crisis, with widespread housing shortages and council accommodation backlogs reported across the country