Hundreds of Ukrainian families have been left homeless in England after arriving on visas designed to secure a place to live, according to official figures. Since the end of February, at least 480 Ukrainian families with children and 180 single adults have applied to the city councils for help for the homeless.
While the government insists that homes for Ukraine and family visa plans will ensure that refugees have housing, they are both leaving people fighting when arrangements are broken.
The data show the cracks that already appear in the Household Plan for Ukraine, with 145 placements that ended up homeless on June 3. Of these, 90 ended up because the arrangement was broken and 55 more did not land properly because the accommodation was unavailable or unsuitable on arrival.
Lauren Scott, executive director of Refugees at Home, said: “We are frustrated and saddened, but it is not surprising that placements are starting to break down. on Facebook it was always a risk.
“We urgently need a joint national plan to help families whose placements go wrong. Across the country there is no consistent approach to re-pairing guests with new hosts, there is no standard way because Ukrainians change visa sponsors and there is no single mechanism for transferring funding from one host to another. “
Many local authorities are treating Ukrainian families as homeless instead of trying to reconnect them with new hosts, leaving them in hostels and hotels, as was the case with Afghan refugees. Of the 145 failed Homes for Ukraine locations, only 20 were re-paired with a new host.
Scott said: “It’s a nightmare situation, the same one we hoped to avoid.”
Anna, 37, was fleeing Kyiv with her husband and three-year-old son when war broke out. They arrived in Britain in late March after meeting a family of four living in a large house in Northampton.
After being initially welcoming, their hosts became less enthusiastic in a few weeks. “We didn’t understand what was going on because they changed their mood very quickly,” Anna said.
Anna and her family moved to an annex. The host said he wanted a key and they always agreed to let them know before entering, but soon after he called the town hall to tell him he wanted to terminate his sponsorship.
“They didn’t tell us anything,” Anna said. “They were not ready to share a house. They tried to get rid of us as soon as possible. “
Her family was housed in a Travelodge for several days by the town hall, sharing a room with no cooking facilities. They had no idea where to go. “We were desperate and we felt we had no choice but to return to Ukraine,” Anna said.
Finally, after searching the internet, they found Refugees at home, which helped them to settle with another family.
They are still marked by experience. “We lost our house in Ukraine, and when we got here we thought we were safe, but we really weren’t and we lost our house a second time.”
The longest-running family visa system had 455 homeless applications. In many cases, families desperate to get their relatives out of Ukraine applied for visas, but never had a place to stay.
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said: “It is worrying to see how the desperate families of Ukraine who have fled the war have suffered trauma and pain, arriving here, entrusting their safety to the our hands, have been dropped into our hands.
“Ukrainian families arriving here need a warm welcome, safe housing and benefits, emotional support and connection. We are concerned that Ukrainians arriving with family visas will have problems, as not all relatives will have the space or resources to to support their relatives, so there needs to be the same level of funding available to them and the local councils that is offered under the Houses for Ukraine scheme. “
Lisa Nandy, a shadow MP and housing secretary, said: “It is utterly shameful that families who have fled Putin’s brutal war have found themselves homeless here in the UK.
“The British have shown incredible generosity in raising their thousands to provide the care and sanctuary that these people, many of them families with young children, need and deserve in such horrific circumstances.
“But the government has failed miserably in its role. Ministers were warned of the risk of refugees becoming homeless on the day they launched the sponsorship plan, but they were more interested in being featured in television studios. to do its job to protect vulnerable people.
“The government urgently needs to establish a plan to support councils in finding safe housing for these families.”
Cllr David Renard, a spokesman for the Local Government Association, said: “Currently, councils do not receive data or funding for people who are subject to the family visa regime. Some of these families are as homeless once they have arrived, but we ask that they be able to reconcile with a sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine program.
“Urgent work is needed on how councils can work with government and the community, the faith and the voluntary sector so that those who offer their homes can be quickly paired with a needy family.”
A government spokesman said: “More than 77,200 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK since Putin’s invasion, and everyone who arrives has access to public benefits and services, as well as the right to work or study, from the day they arrive. .
“The vast majority of people are settling in well, but in the minority of cases where family or sponsorship relationships are broken, city councils have a duty to ensure that families are not left homeless. they have access to a recombination service to find a new sponsor in cases under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.