A “shocking” 50,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK could be made homeless next year, the government has been warned, but ministers are refusing to offer a fresh package of support to offset the impending crisis.
As the cost of living crisis bites and with no end in sight to the war with Russia, fears are mounting that the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme will unravel next month when refugees’ initial six-month placements with hosts end without alternative accommodation in place.
Although Boris Johnson has framed the UK’s response to Russia’s invasion as a principled triumph, a number of organisations warn that a key responsibility of his government to the conflict’s refugee crisis could prompt a “disastrous rise in homelessness”.
A total of 83,900 refugees have arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme since it began in March. Refugees were matched with sponsors who agreed to house them for six months and were paid £350 a month.
Not all matches have been successful. Government data reveals that since the war began in February, 1,335 Ukrainian households – including 945 families with children – have registered as homeless.
That figure is set to soar from next month. Analysis by children’s charity Barnardo’s, Labour and the Liberal Democrats say that, based on feedback from refugee sponsors, between 15,000 and 21,000 Ukrainians could be homeless by the winter, rising to more than 50,000 by the middle of next year.
One group, Refugees at Home, said the figure could be even higher because of a combination of pressures, including energy bills, soaring inflation and climbing interest rates.
Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said: “These shocking numbers reveal the scale of the crisis about to hit refugee families who came to Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, fleeing Putin’s war.”
When levelling up secretary Michael Gove unveiled the scheme in March, Nandy asked in parliament what plans were in place for when sponsorships broke down, but she did not receive an answer. When the government was asked by the Observer on Saturday for the projected rates of homelessness among Ukrainian refugees, it declined to offer a figure.
James Jamieson, chairman of the Local Government Association, which represents more than 330 councils in England, warned that even if Ukrainians could find a new host in the event the original sponsorship did not work out, grave issues lay ahead.
“There is a significant risk that – even if rematching is available – many Ukrainian families may need to present as homeless because of a lack of sponsors or other options,” he said.
