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Ukrainian refugees and their hosts have delivered a petition signed by more than 4,500 people to Downing Street calling on the government to provide housing support for those struggling or unable to find independent accommodation.
Chris Kandiah, founder of the Sanctuary Foundation, the charity behind the petition, was with Ukrainian refugees, including nine-year-old Danilo from Kiev, who knocked on 10 Downing Street to deliver the petition on Tuesday.
The plea comes as more than 100,000 people have been hosted by British families under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. But with the end of the six-month hosting arrangement, Ukrainians are struggling to find accommodation in the social housing and private rental sectors, a situation complicated by the crisis’s cost of living.
“We can’t say to the Ukrainian government that we stand with them if we don’t adequately care for the women and children who are here,” said Kandia, who is one of several hosts who have come together to provide housing. 10,000 refugees, asking the government to “meet the compassion of the people” with practical solutions.
The petition asks the government for clarification on the rematching and rehosting process, to make local authorities guarantors for rental properties and to increase the monthly “thank you” payment given to hosts, among other considerations.
Kandiya, who has been hosting a Ukrainian refugee in her Oxfordshire home for four months, speaks fondly of the experience. He said he was learning a new language and eating borscht regularly. But refugees who have fled war and disaster, he added, don’t need the added worry of having nowhere to live.
“You have received an unprecedented number of sympathy and compassion from the British people who are hosting the refugees,” Kandiya said. “But if we don’t help with this next phase, we lose that goodwill, and what could have been a historic program turns into a historic failure.”
A government survey of visa holders entering the UK under two Ukrainian schemes launched in March found that 45% of respondents experienced barriers to accessing private accommodation. The most common barrier was lack of guarantors or references.
The survey notes increased rates of English proficiency, higher employment figures and an increase in Ukrainians paying for their own accommodation. More than half of respondents also indicated plans to stay in the UK for at least three years.
Alex Golub, who left Kharkiv in June without her husband, lives with her family of five in Buckinghamshire. She spends her days working in hospitality and taking English classes, but their six-month hosting arrangement ends in December.
Now facing the private rental sector, Golub is asked by landlords to provide credit and work history, for which she has no history or references in the UK. If she wanted to rent alone in the nearby area, it would cost £1,600 – an unreal amount of her minimum wage salary.
“It’s a very difficult emotional situation for us. From the early days here in the UK we were uncertain about what tomorrow would bring,” she said. “We are afraid, of course, but anyway we are trying to do our best and to find the opportunity and ask, because it is very difficult.”
According to a recent survey, more than half of Ukrainians rely on state benefits, mainly universal credit. “It’s a big challenge,” said Kandiya, who has come with refugees on benefits or with children rejected by landlords.
Oksana Bach, 45, who fled Ukraine in June with her 22-year-old daughter, considers herself “lucky” to have found a landlord willing to rent to the pair after a bad experience left their host family.
“I think this foundation petition will help all Ukrainians to be like me,” said Bach, who stood outside 10 Downing Street with a Ukrainian flag draped around her neck. The independence of their own flat in Reading has given them the chance to rebuild their lives, improve their mental health and integrate into the community, she added.
A government spokesman said most of the sponsors who opened their homes to Ukrainians were keen to continue the scheme.
“More than 100,000 guests have arrived under this scheme,” the spokesperson said. “They have benefits and the right to work from day one. The council has a duty to ensure that families are not left without accommodation and we are giving them funding to cover the extra costs.
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