There’s likely to be a spike of councils having to rehouse Ukrainian refugees in October and November, as we approach the six-month mark since many of the visas were granted in March, April and May.
The Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme, which launched in March, dictated that people host refugees for a minimum of six months and receive £350 a month.
Britain’s response to helping Ukrainians was criticised for being slow and bureaucratic earlier in the year, but nevertheless by 29 May 65,700 visas were granted.
Now councils are focused on ensuring those in need continue to be housed.
As detailed by CambridgeshireLive, the city council’s Housing Scrutiny Committee is developing a homelessness prevention plan, part of which will be making 20% of council homes available to Ukrainian refugees.
Cambridge City Council said that when existing hosting arrangements end it will look to rematch Ukrainians with another host in possible.
The council will also explore incentives and additional support for existing hosts to continue for longer.
Otherwise the council will look to secure private accommodation for Ukrainian households either in or on the outskirts of Cambridge.
And if that doesn’t work out it will work with housing associations to find council homes, as it looks to avoid housing people in expensive temporary accommodation.
In Cambridgeshire only 23% of hosts are willing go over a year, meaning councils have their work cut out to rehouse those in need.
As of September 1 there were 383 guests spread across 203 households in the Cambridge City area.
