25 per cent of Homes for Ukraine sponsors intend to only continue hosting arrangements for six months or less

New ONS statistics also show that around a third of sponsors report that the rising cost of living is affecting their ability to provide support either ‘quite a lot’ or ‘very much’

25 per cent of sponsors under the government's Homes for Ukraine scheme intend to only continue hosting arrangements for six months or less, according to the first statistics on the experiences of sponsors released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In Experiences of Homes for Ukraine scheme sponsors, UK, the ONS includes information on hosting arrangements, sponsor characteristics, support provided, sponsor intentions and challenges faced gathered from responses to a Homes for Ukraine Sponsor Survey.

The data collected from 7 to 14 July 2022 shows that almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of respondents were providing accommodation at the time of the survey, with the remaining respondents either waiting for a placement/planning to host in the future (21 per cent), or no longer hosting as guests had moved out (4 per cent).

In relation to sponsors’ intentions, the ONS reports that –

• 19 per cent intend to provide accommodation for six months (the minimum length of time for which sponsors were asked to offer accommodation under the scheme), while a further 6 per cent wanted the arrangements to last less than six months;
• just under one-quarter (24 per cent) intended to provide accommodation for between six and 12 months, 14 per cent for 12 months, and 23 per cent for longer than 12 months; and
• while 1 in 10 current or previous sponsors reported that they were providing short-term emergency accommodation for guests, almost two-thirds (65 per cent) said they were providing longer-term accommodation until guests found an alternative, and around one-fifth (19 per cent) said they were providing more permanent accommodation.

In addition, the ONS highlights the impact of cost of living pressures on sponsors, including that –

• more than a fifth (21 per cent) of current or previous sponsors reported that the rising cost of living affected their ability to provide support on the scheme ‘quite a lot’;
• a further 9 per cent of sponsors said the cost of living crisis affected their ability to provide support ‘very much’; and
• of current sponsors who said they wanted the hosting arrangements to last six months or less, just under a quarter (23 per cent) said they did not plan to continue because of rising costs of living or because they could no longer afford to.

NB - the government has also released updated Homelessness management information - Ukrainian nationals: England today covering the Homes for Ukraine and Ukrainian Family schemes, that shows that 1,335 Ukrainian households were found to be owed a prevention or relief duty between 24 February 2022 and 29 July 2022 (up from 1,040 in the previous month's management information).

For more information, see Experiences of Homes for Ukraine scheme sponsors, UK: 7 to 14 July 2022 from ons.gov.uk