Almost 89,000 people in Britain have offered homes to Ukrainian refugees in the first hours of a government scheme that allows families and individuals to bring them to the UK. The scheme means those who do not have a family connection to the UK can come to the country on a visa for the first time.
What do Britons who want to host a refugee have to do now?
You can host a refugee family if you live in the UK – regardless of your nationality. Non-Britons must have at least six months’ leave to remain in the UK. The first step is to apply through the government website, which almost 90,000 people have already done.
Applications can also be made on behalf of charities, faith and community groups or businesses. There will be some “light-touch” vetting of hosts, probably not a full DBS check. More detailed guidance is expected to be released in the coming days.
Hosts will receive £350 a month tax free for up to 12 months, with one payment made per address, not per individual.
How will Ukrainians be matched with a British family?
The government will not be matching British hosts with Ukrainians. Those who are approved as hosts will need to identify the Ukrainians they intend to host and then they will make a visa application naming their intended hosts.
However, in practice, many of those who are offering to host Ukrainians simply will not know anyone directly that might wish to come here.
There are a number of charities who are asking people to register their interest with them and who can undertake some of the matching process. They include:
Sanctuary Foundation – which is running online information events for hosts
Refugees at Home, a charity that has experience connecting refugees and hosts online
Room for Refugees, which has previously settled unaccompanied child refugees
Reset, which also has a sponsorship scheme for refugees from other conflicts
World Jewish Relief, which runs a number of projects in Ukraine.
What will Ukrainians need to do to enter the country?
Once hosts are approved and they are in touch with a Ukrainian individual or family you wish to sponsor, they can fill in a visa application. That process is not yet open – it will start on 18 March.
After a change in the rules last week, those with a valid Ukraine passport will be able to apply online. But without those documents, which many fleeing may have left behind, refugees have to visit a visa centre in other European countries, including many bordering Ukraine such as Poland, Romania or Moldova, but also in other countries like Belgium or France.
There is no visa centre in Calais, despite many Ukrainians turning up at the port hoping for help to enter the UK.
What are refugees entitled to when they come to Britain?
Those who are granted a visa will be eligible to work and have the right to access state benefits and public services, such as schools and healthcare. Charities and other community organisations will be organising to help refugees access the benefits and services they are entitled to. The majority of those arriving are likely to be women and children, with men between 18 and 60 barred from leaving Ukraine in order to support the military.
What funding is available for councils?
Local authorities will also receive £10,500 in extra funding per refugee and more funding will be available to ensure school places for children. However, some local councils have expressed concern that further funding is likely to be needed in order to meet the needs of people likely to have experienced severe trauma and those with caring responsibilities towards children and elderly people, given that most men have been ordered to stay in Ukraine.
What do hosts have to provide for refugees?
Hosts are expected to provide a private bedroom, rather than a shared room. The government has made clear the £350 is not intended to be a full rental payment – more a goodwill gesture to cover additional costs of having a family use your home.
The scheme does not expect hosts to cover food and other necessities, that should be covered by refugees themselves who will have access to the benefit systems and be able to work. However, there’s nothing to stop hosts from offering food and whatever else they would like to offer.
What are the legal hurdles to hosting a family?
It’s likely that councils will treat the offer of homes to refugees with compassion rather than enforcement actions but in normal circumstances there are restrictions on how people can offer homes and to how many people.
Christian Fox at Becket Chambers, who said he would offer free legal advice to those seeking to house Ukrainian refugees, said that offering anything other than a room in the main home – such as an annex above a garage or a cabin or a separate flat – could create a legal “tenancy”.
“If the owner of a second home or investment property were to allow several families to stay in a property, it may give rise to the need to register as a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) under the Housing Act 2004,” he said.
“While we might hope that local authorities would be sympathetic, unless the government scheme allows exemption, then at the very least licensing will need to be investigated with the local council and their views sought.”
Fox said there were fewer legal complications for people offering a room but said it could still affect property insurance or risk breaching mortgage or lease terms, which hosts would need to clarify with their lender or landlord.
