Hosts of Ukrainians who have fled the war in their homeland have called on Wiltshire Council to provide more support for refugees to move into rented homes instead of using £10 million of funds provided by the government to buy property.   

Bradford on Avon host Felicity Courage attended the full Wiltshire Council meeting on Februrary 21 and asked: “We need that money now.

"Will the council acknowledge that secure housing is a current, urgent and very real need for this community, and provide first month’s rent, deposits and, more importantly, guarantorship to help Ukrainian guests into the private rental sector?"

Winsley host Barry Brooks added in a letter to Wiltshire Council leader Cllr Richard Clewer: “Our focus is helping our guests to find an affordable flat or house to rent close to where they have settled so as to avoid the inevitable further disruption and stress if they have to change schools and job.”

He asked the council to act as a guarantor, assist with deposits and provide ‘starter’ grants for furniture, as well providing access to counselling for war traumatised people and funding English lessons at times that suit working Ukrainians.  

Another sponsor and host, Judy Ward, from Box, said: “We have heard that Wiltshire Council intend to buy property to rent to Ukrainians. This would not only take too much time, but it would be wholly inadequate for the number of Ukrainians looking to become independent.

“Surely the money provided by central government would be better utilised in helping all Ukrainians who are ready to move into their own accommodation by providing them with a deposit and one month's rent and perhaps by providing an officer to help support them with this difficult transition.”

Cllr David Vigar, who is a host and a Wiltshire councillor, added: “The council officers have done great work to support hundreds of refugees but the council now has a significant fund of nearly £10 million of government money that is waiting to be used.

“As well as the much-needed rent support that my fellow hosts are requesting, I would like to see specialist staff taken on to provide one-to-one support to help refuges get the best jobs they can and navigate the challenges of finding a rented home.”  

The hosts also asked if council members and officers would meet with hosts from across Wiltshire to discuss the situation.

Cllr Clewer said: “We are reviewing the recent guidance from government and will share the outcome of this in due course.”

There are around 360 Ukrainian families being hosted by local households in Wiltshire under the ‘Homes for Ukraine scheme. At the end of January, around 120 families had moved into private rented housing.

Many of the Ukrainians still being hosted have found work in Wiltshire and are now hoping to move into homes of their own. Their wages and benefits often make renting fully or nearly affordable.

The government has provided councils with £10,500 per Ukrainian refugee. And with more than 800 individual refugees in the county, the total funding provided stood at £11.5 million at the end of January, of which just over £1.8 million had been spent.

As of the end of January seven families who had been threatened with homelessness had been helped with advance rents and deposits through the separate ‘WiltsLet’ scheme but the government funding had not been routinely used for guarantees, deposits, rent advances, rent top-ups or furniture.

Instead, Wiltshire Council is proposing to use some of the money to raise capital to buy homes through its Stone Circle Housing Company. It says the homes “…can be used for Ukraine nationals now and for wider use into the future”.