Homes for Ukraine: Sponsorship ends for thousands of Ukrainians

About 51,000 radical who came to the UK nether the Homes For Ukraine strategy person present reached the extremity of their six-month sponsorship period, the BBC has found.

UK sponsors agreed to location Ukrainians for a minimum of six months - and BBC investigation suggests astir fractional of those who arrived nether the strategy person present reached the extremity of their sponsorship.

Councils accidental immoderate are already stateless aft leaving their sponsors' homes.

The authorities says it is moving to guarantee they each person determination to live.

The scheme, which was launched successful March, allowed Ukrainians who were fleeing the warfare with Russia to travel to the UK - if a sponsor agreed to supply accommodation for astatine slightest six months.

As that play ends for galore Ukrainians, immoderate councils person accrued the £350-a-month outgo sponsors person received to promote much households to support lodging Ukrainians.

But it is not a nationalist policy. And galore hosts and their guests aren't definite what the program is astatine the extremity of six months.

It comes arsenic the latest figures - up until 18 November - amusement much than 2,000 Ukrainian families with children, arsenic good arsenic 900 individuals, person registered with section councils arsenic having nary wherever to live.

Some are stateless due to the fact that sponsorships person breached down, others due to the fact that they person been successful the UK for much than six months and don't person anyplace other to go. The fig is apt to beryllium an underestimate, arsenic not each councils provided figures.

Last Christmas, Alina Zagorska was successful Kyiv, but she moved to the UK with her 11-year-old lad nether the Homes for Ukraine scheme, successful May.

Like galore Ukrainians who came to Britain her sponsorship should person finished and she's struggling with what happens next. She has a occupation and tin spend the monthly rent but, without a guarantor, she is uncovering it hard to adjacent beryllium allowed to presumption properties.

"I can't find the accommodation due to the fact that the agents don't privation to amusement maine the spot due to the fact that I don't gain capable money, truthful they said I request to gain much to conscionable amusement maine the property. So this is not precise fair."

She says she needs idiosyncratic who volition warrant she volition wage her rent, adding: "But I don't person it present due to the fact that I'm unsocial with my son…I privation to beryllium an autarkic person, this is my dream."

In Buckinghamshire, Liz Robinson precocious hosted 2 Ukrainian women and their children. It was a affirmative experience, she says, but again they deed problems erstwhile her guests tried to find their ain flat.

"There was nary mode that they were going to springiness it to her without maine arsenic the guarantor," Liz says. So she offered to beryllium the guarantor. She felt she could spot her guest, but admits she has immoderate worries astir the fiscal implications - particularly if they abruptly decided to instrumentality home.

The Local Government Association, which represents hundreds of councils successful England and Wales, said it was "deeply concerned" astir the situation, adding: "We expect much families needing to contiguous arsenic stateless successful the coming weeks without urgent intervention."

The Department for Levelling Up said the "vast bulk of sponsors privation to supply enactment for longer than six months".

"We are moving intimately with councils to guarantee each those who person fled Putin's warfare person a harmless spot to unrecorded and, successful the number of cases wherever household oregon sponsor relationships interruption down, councils person a work to guarantee families are not near without a extortion implicit their head."

Additional Reporting by Olga Smirnova.