Ukrainian families kicked out by UK hosts... because Whitehall cash never came
UKRAINIAN refugees are being evicted by their host families because of payment delays to the Government’s flagship Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Some 1,335 people who fled to the UK after Vladimir Putin’s invasion are now listed as either homeless or at high risk because of a breakdown in relations with their sponsor. But The Mail on Sunday has learnt that in several cases this is because of long delays to the £350a-month ‘thank you’ payment, which has left volunteers having to dip into their own pockets to ‘cover the cracks’.
Simone Schehtman, a volunteer who has paired hundreds of Ukrainian refugees with hosts across Birmingham and the West Midlands, said: ‘In general, local authorities have been very slow at delivering the payments and this has put some hosts under huge pressure.
‘Most hosts thought they were going to be paid by the end of April, but in Birmingham the first payments came through last month.’
She added that some hosts weon benefits themselves.
‘Delays and rocketing bills have caused some host-refugee relationships to fracture, and I have personally wired several hundred pounds of charity donations to hosts to cover the cracks,’ she said.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme launched in March with the Government giving payments to councils to distribute. But the Local Government Association, which represents 361 councils in England and Wales, told the MoS it only received the money in June and was having to backdate payments.
Tetiana Bilousova, 37, and her two children were evicted last month after her sponsor said they hadn’t received any payment.
‘The day I was evicted, there was no discussion,’ she said. ‘I came home from work and suddenly I was told that tomorrow a woman would call me to move us into a hotel. They did not try to find a compromise or talk through any problems. I had no idea that the Government had failed to pay them.
‘Nobody was at fault, but sometimes English people can forget we just fled from war and that leaving Ukraine was not a happy experience.
‘I think maybe the hosts misunderstood why I was in a bad mood and crying. Yes, my children are safe with me, but my mother and husband are still in Ukraine.’
British hosts signed up for a minimum of six months but a recent survey by the Office for National Statistics found that a quarter do not want to carry on after this period, which ends in September.
Some have blamed the rising cost of living for their decision and the
Government is said to be considering increasing payments.
But there are fears that many more Ukrainians will be evicted, with councils obliged to ensure they still have a roof over their heads.
‘We are really worried about what is going to happen,’ said Lauren Scott, executive director of the charity Refugees at Home. ‘We have had several Ukrainians asking us to find them new hosts.’
Mariia Suslova, 65, was living in a sponsor home with her daughter-inlaw Natalia, 41, and three-year-old granddaughter Sofiia but they were asked to leave a few weeks ago.
She said: ‘At the start, everything was great and we were very grateful to be there. We were told, “Our house is your house”, but this did not last long.’
Mariia said the hosts became ‘annoyed’ by having a toddler in the home and the family are now staying in a hotel, hoping to find private accommodation.
The charity National Family Mediation, which usually works with divorced couples, is training
‘They did not try to find a compromise or talk’
Ukrainians to act as mediators to ease any stresses between the refugees and their hosts. Meanwhile Refugee Minister Lord Harrington and Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, have been writing to host families to encourage them to carry on.
A Government spokesman said that since the February invasion, more than 115,200 Ukrainians had arrived in the UK. They added: ‘The overwhelming majority of people are settling in well but in the minority of cases where family or sponsor relationships break down, councils have a duty to ensure families are not left without a roof over their head.
‘Councils also have access to a rematching service to find a new sponsor in cases under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.’