Advice for potential hosts

Ukrainians without any family ties to the UK may be able to come to the UK. The government's Homes for Ukraine scheme:

• Offers a route for Ukrainians who want to come to the UK and have someone here willing to provide them with a home.
• Enables individuals, charities, community groups and businesses to offer accommodation and provide a safe route for Ukrainians and their immediate family members, forced to escape Ukraine.
• Provides accommodation via sponsors for a minimum period of six months.

Someone is eligible if they are Ukrainian nationals, or the immediate family member of a Ukrainian national and were a Ukrainian resident before 1 January 2022.

People arriving under this scheme will be able to:

• Live and work here for up to three years if their application was received before 19 February 2024 and up to 18 months if their application was received from 19 February 2024.
• Access healthcare, benefits, employment support, education and English language tuition.

If you have a spare room in your home, or separate, unoccupied self-contained accommodation and it is available rent free for a minimum of six months, you can register your interest. In return, you will receive a monthly thank you payment.

Before offering your support and for more information, please read the sponsor guidance which covers:

• Things you need to consider before hosting or sponsoring.
• Eligibility, safeguarding, DBS and accommodation checks.
• Basic accommodation needs.

The sponsor guides also include information on how to support guests on arrival and permissions required for mortgages, insurance, landlords and leaseholders.

Guests already living in the district will generally need less support than someone who is just arriving in the country, as they’ll usually have already registered for essential services, found jobs, formed communities and will have been learning or improving their English.

Some guests who have already settled in the district will need to find new host accommodation, usually because of a change in their host’s circumstances, or the initial sponsorship period has come to an end. This is called ‘rematching’. 

We keep a list of potential hosts in case guests in the district need rematching, but we need more potential hosts to come forward.

If you have any spare space in your home or a self-contained annexe and you’re considering hosting a Ukrainian guest or family, please contact us. We can answer any questions and add you to the list to get in touch if a rematch we think might be a good fit becomes available. 

If you are asked through social media or a community group to host a guest or family who are already in the UK, please contact us before committing to host them so we can discuss everything with you and arrange the necessary checks.

If you would like to sponsor someone you know, you should contact them and prepare to fill in a visa application with them. 

If you don’t know anyone to sponsor, please get in touch with charities, faith groups or local community organisations who are making these connections.

Recognised providers are approved organisations which can help match guests and hosts. They have experience working with sponsors and people fleeing conflict and their services are free to use. 

The Homes for Ukraine Scheme has been opened up to allow new applications from those who are under 18 and not travelling with or joining their parent or legal guardian, if they have proof of parental consent.

Planned sponsors of eligible children can now start their applications using a new online service. Councils will then begin making safeguarding checks and all checks must be completed before a visa will be granted.

• Guidance for sponsors.
• Guidance for applicants and parents.

We will be inspecting all accommodation for suitability. We will contact the host to arrange the initial visit and we will visit again after the guests have arrived and settled in.

The Home Office will conduct standard security checks on all adults aged 18 and over who will be living in the same household as the guests. This includes checks against government records and those of other third parties such as the Police National Computer, or its equivalent in Northern Ireland. The Home Office will make these checks when considering the visa application. There will be no cost to host families for these checks.

We will carry out a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) background check on everyone aged 16 and over who will be living in the same property as the Ukrainian guests.

You have the option to receive a thank you payment, paid in arrears, for as long as you are hosting your guests and the accommodation provided is of a suitable standard. This payment is £350 for the first 12 months after a guest arrives in the UK and increases to £500 per month 13 months after first arrival up to 24 months.

In Surrey, we currently top thank you payments up to £600 per month.

You will be eligible for the first monthly payment once the accommodation you are providing has been checked and DBS checks have been initiated for all household members over the age of 16.

Your guest needs to have been with you for more than half the month for you to be eligible for thank you payments for that month.

• For sponsors who receive benefits, the government is ensuring thank you payments do not affect your benefit entitlement. 
• Thank you payments will not affect any council tax discounts for single occupancy. 
• They will be tax free.
• If all your guest(s) travel away for more than four consecutive weeks, we have to pause the thank you payments. It is your responsibility to keep us updated if your guests will travel away for longer than 4 weeks. In order for us to give you the correct advice, please keep us updated if your guests will be leaving the host accommodation for longer than a week.
• If your guest moves out of your home for any reason, you must let us know by e-mailing ukraine@tandridge.gov.uk, as you will no longer be eligible for the monthly payments.

You must not charge rent if you are in receipt of thank you payments, but you can ask for a reasonable and proportional contribution towards household bills. Contact us if you are considering asking your guests for a contribution towards household bills.

People fleeing Ukraine and arriving in the UK can claim Universal Credit immediately. They may also be eligible for other benefits.

Ukrainians arriving in the UK can also access jobs support immediately. The Department for Works and Pensions provides support through the Jobcentres to help people:

• Find work.
• Provide advice on benefit eligibility.
• Support them to claim benefits.