By UK households offered £350 a month for hosting refugees
Households in the UK will be offered £350 a month to open their homes to those fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme asks people to offer a spare room or an empty property to a refugee for at least six months.
So far more than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion, in what the UN has called the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War Two.
Announcing the new scheme, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove urged people to join the “national effort”.
Individuals acting as sponsors will be able to nominate a named Ukrainian individual or family to stay with them rent-free in their home for six months.
There will be no limit on the number of refugees who can come to the UK through this route, and they will be given three years leave to remain, with the right to work and access public services.
Applications would be made online, with both sponsors being vetted and refugees having to go through security checks.
The sponsor would get a “thank you” payment of £350 a month.
A website for people to express an interest in offering accommodation will launch on Monday.
Organisations such as charities and churches will be able to do the same in the future but there is no start date for this yet.
Announcing the plan, Mr Gove said: “The crisis in Ukraine has sent shock waves across the world as hundreds of thousands of innocent people have been forced to flee their homes, leaving everything they know and love behind.
“The UK stands behind Ukraine in their darkest hour and the British public understands the need to get as many people to safety as quickly as we can.”
