Homes for Ukraine - support for hosts
Become a host
If you want to offer a home to people fleeing Ukraine, you can become a host as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Register your interest by completing our online form, and a member of our team will get in touch to tell you more about the scheme.
What to expect
After you register your interest in becoming a host for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, we will contact you to arrange a free DBS check for every person over 16 that lives in your home (not the arriving refugees).
If you are using an unoccupied property for the scheme, we will still need to do a free DBS check for you but may not need to check the other members of your family.
We will prioritise your checks if you already have Ukrainian nationals staying with you.
Your local council will contact you to arrange a convenient time for the inspection.
They will check to make sure the property:
- is clean, warm, safe and in a reasonable state
- has an empty room and adequate space for your guest. A bed in a shared space is not an appropriate offer of accommodation for 6 months and people who didn’t previously know each other should not be given the same room. Two people should not be in one room unless they are:
- adult cohabiting partners
- a parent and child
- 2 siblings of the same gender if aged over 10
- 2 siblings regardless of gender if aged under 10.
- has working smoke detectors on each floor of the property
- has a working carbon monoxide detector in any room containing a solid fuel burning appliance
- has a report showing that a gas safety check (if you have gas appliances) has been completed on the property within the last year. If you need to arrange a gas safety check, you can either organise this yourself using a gas safe registered engineer or we can arrange one for you.
The visit should last around one hour and you should hear back from us with any issues you need to address within 48 hours.
You can find out more about the basic accommodation needs for Homes for Ukraine on GOV.UK.
Free home fire safety checks
The Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) are supporting hosts by offering free home fire safety visits. The visit may include:
- installing fire alarms
- installing a carbon monoxide alarm
- fire safety advice.
To find out more, visit the KFRS website and quote KFRSUkraine when booking.
Complete this form to tell us your guests have arrived. We will then arrange a welfare check as soon as possible to make sure that everything is okay and to see if you need any further support.
If you are unable to complete the form, please call us on 03000 419820.
We will contact you to arrange your payments when:
- all of the checks have been completed
- we've received a satisfactory DBS certificate for each eligible person in your home
- you've told us that your guests have arrived.
If you haven't heard from us and we have already completed your checks, we will be in touch soon and payments will be backdated to the date your guests arrived. You'll receive a payment for each calendar month where you have hosted for more than 16 days.
If you're hosting guests who have been in Kent for up to 12 months
If you’re hosting guests who have been in Kent for up to 12 months, you will get a £350 thank you payment plus a top-up amount depending on how many guests you have staying with you:
| Number of Ukrainian guests | Thank you payment | Top-up payment | Total monthly payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 guest | £350 | £50 | £400 |
| 2 guests | £350 | £150 | £500 |
| 3 guests | £350 | £250 | £600 |
| 4 guests | £350 | £350 | £700 |
| 5 guests | £350 | £450 | £800 |
| 6 guests | £350 | £550 | £900 |
| 7 or more guests | £350 | £650 | £1,000 |
If you're hosting guests who have been in Kent for more than 12 months
If you’re hosting guests who have been in Kent for more than 12 months, you will get a £500 thank you payment, plus a top-up amount if you host 3 or more guests:
| Number of Ukrainian guests | Thank you payment | Top-up payment | Total monthly payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 guest | £500 | £0 | £500 |
| 2 guests | £500 | £0 | £500 |
| 3 guests | £500 | £100 | £600 |
| 4 guests | £500 | £200 | £700 |
| 5 guests | £500 | £300 | £800 |
| 6 guests | £500 | £400 | £900 |
| 7 or more guests | £500 | £500 | £1,000 |
Payments for Ukrainian refugees
We will also provide Ukrainian refugees with a one-off £200 payment. We will process this as soon as possible after you've completed the form to tell us they have arrived.
If your guests leave your home temporarily for 4 weeks or more, you need to let us know so that we can suspend your payments. Tell us your guests have left temporarily.
When they come back you'll need to tell us your guests have returned.
Children being left without the parent they travelled with
Parents and sponsors must contact us before making any arrangements for guest children to be left without the parent they travelled with. It is especially important that parents do not leave the country before contacting us.
There are both legal and safeguarding implications for these arrangements and therefore it is important that you discuss this with the team to make sure that you have the correct information and are aware of the steps you must take.
Please contact ukrainesafeguarding@kent.gov.uk or call 03000 41 98 20 and request a call back from the safeguarding team.
Practical advice
It’s really important that you support your guest to access things that are important to everyday life. We have put together a list of services that your guest may need to use.
The government have issued guidance for guests which includes specific information for those arriving on the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Visit the supporting your guest section of the Reset website for information and guidance.
Read the guide for new refugees on GOV.UK.
Visas
Visa applications are managed by the Home Office and we have no access to the visa system or the ability to escalate visa enquiries. If you'd like support with your guest's visa, call the Home Office's visa helpline on 0808 164 8810 and press option 1.
English with Ukrainians
You may want to watch some of the videos on a YouTube channel called English with Ukrainians, where Ukrainian translators have translated lessons and discussed language and cultural differences. There are also activities that are suitable for you to do with your Ukrainian guests.
Ending the placement
If it is no longer safe or viable for your Ukrainian guests to stay
If it is no longer viable or safe for your guests to stay with you, email us at Ukraine@kent.gov.uk as soon as possible so we can look into ways we can help.
Hosting beyond 6 months
You are committed to hosting guests for a minimum of 6 months, but you may choose to continue beyond the initial 6 months if you and your guests wish.
If you don’t want to continue the arrangement beyond 6 months (or at any time after that), you should let your guest know in plenty of time so they can make other arrangements. You should aim to give notice 2 months before the end of the 6 months (or with 2 months’ notice before any later date).
Guest options at the end of the placement
Guests will have access to public funds and, after leaving your home, will be able to rent a property like anyone else. If they need to, they’ll be able to claim the housing part of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit.
Reset, a refugee charity, have some practical advice on the next steps when hosting comes to an end and are also running free webinars on planning for the end of hosting. Find out more and register for the webinars on the Reset website.
If your guests leave your home you need tell us your guests have left so that we can stop your payments.
Contacts
For more information on the Homes for Ukraine scheme, read the sponsor guides on GOV.UK.
Due to pressures on our public services and the number of guests already in the county, we are unable to accept guests who were not originally sponsored by a Kent resident .
We are also unable to move those who travelled under the Family Scheme into the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
If you need to contact us, email Ukraine@kent.gov.uk.