Despite London extending their stay for another year and a half (initially for three years, until 2025), at least 15,000 of the nearly 200,000 Ukrainian refugees living in the country have left their host families and found themselves homeless, The Daily Telegraph reports. And the figure could be even higher, as a third of local councils did not provide data.
These people have already turned to local authorities for housing support - many have registered as "homeless" and have been temporarily housed in hotels and hostels, others have found social housing for the poor, and some have managed to find and rent a rented space (which in Britain is a difficult and expensive procedure, even for locals).
The Association of Local Authorities for Refugees states that Britain has a "chronic" shortage of housing for refugees, and sponsors are not obliged to accept Ukrainians on an indefinite basis, although the government has continued to pay them for this (500 pounds per month - about 25 thousand UAH).
Against the background of the problem that has emerged, the “family scheme” for coming to Britain to visit relatives has been closed. The rules under the “Homes for Ukraine” program (which Ukrainians have already ironically called “Homeless from Ukraine”) are also being tightened. Now only people who permanently reside or have settled in the UK will be able to act as sponsors. Thus, Ukrainians who arrived earlier will not be able to receive compensation for their friends and relatives under the state program.
Even before that, Scotland, which briefly accepted Ukrainians under the super-sponsorship scheme (about 20,000 people), refused to pay for their temporary housing, shifting the costs to local councils, which are also throwing up their hands, citing a lack of money for these purposes.
