Ukrainian refugees and their hosts have delivered a petition to Downing Street signed by more than 4,500 people calling on the government to provide housing support for those struggling or unable to find independent accommodation.
Krish Kandiah, the founder of Sanctuary Foundation, the charity behind the petition, was accompanied by Ukrainian refugees including nine-year-old Danylo from Kyiv, who knocked on 10 Downing Street to deliver the petition on Tuesday.
The petition comes as more than 100,000 people have become guests of British families under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. But as many six-month hosting arrangements come to an end, Ukrainians are struggling to find accommodation in the social housing and private rental sectors, a situation compounded by the cost of living crisis.
“We can’t say to the Ukrainian government that we’re standing with them if we’re not adequately caring for women and children who are here,” said Kandiah, who is one of many hosts who together have provided accommodation for more than 10,000 refugees, calling on the government to “meet the compassion of the public” with practical solutions.
The petition asks the government for clarity on the rematching and rehosting process, to make local authorities guarantors for rental properties and consider increasing the monthly “thank you” payment given to hosts, among other considerations.
Kandiah, who has been hosting a Ukrainian refugee in his Oxfordshire home for four months, speaks fondly of the experience. He said he has been learning a new language and eating borscht regularly. But refugees who have fled war and disaster, he added, don’t need the additional anxiety of having nowhere to live.
“You’ve got an incredible amount of sympathy and compassion from an unprecedented number of Britons who are hosting refugees,” said Kandiah. “But if we don’t help this next phase, we lose that goodwill, and what could have been a historic programme ends up being a historic failure.”
A government survey of visa holders entering the UK under the two Ukrainian schemes launched in March found that 45% of respondents experienced barriers to accessing private accommodation. The most common barrier was not having a guarantor or references.
The survey noted an increased rate of English proficiency, higher figures of employment and an increase in Ukrainians paying for their own accommodation. It also showed more than half of respondents plan to stay in the UK for at least three years.
Alex Golub, who left Kharkiv in June without her husband, lives with a family of five in Buckinghamshire. She spends her days working in hospitality and taking English classes, but their six-month hosting arrangement comes to an end in December.
Now facing the private rental sector, Golub is asked by landlords to provide a credit and work history, for which she has no history in the UK or references. If she wants to rent alone in a nearby area, it will cost £1,600 – an unrealistic amount on her minimum wage salary.
“It’s a very hard emotional situation for us. From the very first days here in the UK all the days we were uncertain about what will be going on tomorrow,” she said. “We are scared, of course, but anyway we are trying to do our best and to create, to find and ask for an opportunity, because it’s very hard.”
More than half of Ukrainians rely on state benefits, predominately universal credit, according to the recent survey. “It’s a huge challenge,” said Kandiah, who has come across refugees on benefits or with children being rejected by landlords.
Oksana Baych, 45, who fled Ukraine in June with her 22-year-old daughter, considers herself “lucky” for having found a landlord willing to rent to them after the pair left their host family after a bad experience.
“I think this foundation petition will help all Ukrainians to be like me,” said Baych, who stood outside 10 Downing Street with a Ukrainian flag draped around her neck. The independence of their own flat in Reading has afforded the opportunity to rebuild their lives, improve their mental health and integrate into the community, she added.
A government spokesperson said the majority of sponsors who opened their homes to Ukrainians are keen to continue the scheme.
“Over 100,000 guests have arrived under the scheme,” the spokesperson said. “They have access to benefits and the right to work from day one. Councils have a duty to ensure families are not left without housing and we are giving them funding to cover additional costs.”
