Ukrainian refugees and risks of homelessness - Chair, writes to Government Ministers

• Letter to Government Ministers
• Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee

The correspondence to Felicity Buchan MP and Baroness Scott of Bybrook, Joint leads on Ukraine and Parliamentary Under Secretaries at the Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities (DLHUC), points to Government data indicating a rise in Ukrainian refugee households requiring homelessness assistance, as many Homes for Ukraine sponsorships reached the 6-month mark.

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee will be holding an evidence session on the Ukraine humanitarian schemes with Ministers on Monday 16 January.

Clive Betts, LUHC Committee Chair, will be putting questions on support for Ukraine refugees to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at this afternoon’s Liaison Committee meeting (from 3pm).

Chair's comment

Clive Betts, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, said:

“The Government’s recently announced longer-term moves to prevent Ukrainians from becoming homeless, including increasing “thank you” payments for long-term hosts, are a step in the right direction. However, we are concerned that here-and-now challenges mean significant numbers of Ukrainian households could find themselves homeless this Christmas.

“The sharp rise in Ukrainian refugees presenting as homeless is extremely concerning. As a Committee, we have heard that Christmas is likely to be a cut-off point for many sponsors who are currently housing guests and that this will cause a further spike in Ukrainian families presenting as homeless.

“The Committee has also heard of barriers to Ukrainians moving into rental accommodation and we look forward to raising these matters and wider issues relating to support for Ukrainian refugees when we question Ministers in January”.

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