Since the start of the Russian war, 225 Ukrainian’s have found themselves calling Swindon home thanks to the generosity of the Governments ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme.
The generous sponsors, of which there are currently 89 in Swindon, receive a monthly payment of £350 from the Government to guarantee a home for a Ukrainian individual or family for six months, a period of time which for many of the 225 is now coming to an end.
While many hosts have promised to continue offering a home to Ukrainian refugees beyond the initial six months, some have said they were struggling to afford the increase to household bills and some Ukrainian’s are now in fear of finding themselves homeless.
Earlier this week, Mike Bowden, chair of The Swindon Humanitarian Aid Partnership (SHAP) spoke to the Swindonian about the situation in Swindon saying: “There are quite a few Ukrainian families and single mums coming to the end of the six months hosting arrangement that are about to become homeless due to hosts not wanting to continue within the scheme.
“This along with a shortage or rented accommodation that accepts benefits is not a great position for these families to be in”
Mike then went on to tell us about Tanya – a young Ukrainian mum living in Swindon with her two daughters aged 15 and 5.
Tanya and her children would find themselves homeless at the end of the six month scheme as their host has decided that they can no longer continue in the scheme due to a change in personal circumstances.
Although they have found a privately rented home in West Swindon, the landlord would only accept Tanya as a tenant if she is able provide a rent guarantor.
With the help of Mike Bowden the family reached out to Swindon Borough Council for help after hearing from the minister for Housing and Communities, Andrew Stephenson who advised “To support guests in accessing the private rented sector, some councils are running schemes in which the council acts as rent guarantor for the household.”
Unfortunately for Tanya and her daughters, although Swindon Borough Council are offering support with both the deposit and first months rent if necessary, the 225 Ukrainian’s who now call Swindon home will need to hope the generosity of their hosts continue or they are able to find a landlord who will accept them without a credit check, which they are unlikely to pass, or a guarantor as Swindon Borough Council is not one of these council’s offering such a scheme.
Councillor Cathy Martyn, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Health Inequalities and Housing, said: “We have 225 people who have arrived from Ukraine in Swindon under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and we currently have 89 active Sponsors in Swindon.
“The Home Office will contact sponsors approximately two months before their arrangement is due to come to an end in order to ask for them to contact their local council to advise if they can continue the sponsorship beyond the six-month period. As a result of this, we will continue to hear from sponsors regarding what their long term plans are with their guests. In the event that the six-month period cannot be extended, a Warm Welcome caseworker will discuss alternative housing options with the guests, such as private lets or re-matching.
“We appreciate that despite the generosity of our hosts in Swindon, arrivals from Ukraine will wish to find their own more permanent accommodation. In order to support them with this, our Warm Welcome caseworkers are working closely with individuals and families to provide advice and relevant assistance with looking for permanent accommodation. Once an individual or family living in Swindon under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme finds a property that is considered suitable and affordable, the Warm Welcome team will offer to help with the first month’s rent and deposit to help them secure this property, if the funds are required.
“The success of our support to date is demonstrated by the fact that we currently have only one family under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme registered as homeless and residing in emergency accommodation, but their Warm Welcome caseworker is currently in the process of matching this family to a new host.
“We appealed in the past for landlords to help Ukrainian arrivals, and we will do the same if we need to, however, at present, this is not necessary.”
After Tanya’s appeal to the council for help as guarantor was refused, she was about to lose the house she had agreed to rent and would have found herself homeless this weekend, that was until a generous local resident (who wishes to remain anonymous) read about the families plight on Tuesday and has not only stepped in to act as rent guarantor but has also assisted with the deposit and rent payments whilst the council’s Warm Welcome team sort out her paperwork.
Speaking to the Swindonian the donor said “I wanted to help the family out as I couldn’t bear the thought of them worrying about where they were going to live.
“After everything they have been through this year, the family deserve to be able to sleep well at night knowing they have a safe secure roof over their heads.”
Emergency housing would be made available by Swindon Borough Council to any family that find themselves in the unfortunate position of being homeless, something Mike Bowden says would be a higher cost to the council than acting as a guarantor: ”The fact is that standing as a rent guarantor would be considerably cheaper than providing emergency accommodation for young mothers with kids.”
