A small monthly payment will be available for UK host families who volunteer to house Ukrainians fleeing their homeland due to the Russian invasion.

The UK Government has launched the ‘Home for Ukraine’ scheme which allows individuals, charities, community groups and businesses across the UK to offer a room or home rent-free to Ukrainians escaping the war in their home country. The refugees do not need to have any ties to the UK to be eligible for accommodation.

In return, the Government is offering:

• A ‘thank you’ payment of £350 per month for up to 12 months. The payment is limited to one payment per residential address. The intention is that these payments will be tax free for individuals and will not affect benefit entitlement and will legislate if necessary.
• Local authorities a total of £10,500 in extra funding per refugee for support services.

The payment is intended for anyone who provides a residential spare room or separate self-contained accommodation that is unoccupied to Ukrainians (individuals and immediate family members) coming to the UK.

The accommodation must be available for at least six months, fit for people to live in, and suitable for the number of people to be accommodated.

To be considered eligible for this scheme, one must be a Ukrainian national, or the immediate family member of a Ukrainian national, resident in Ukraine prior to 1 January 2022.

People arriving under this scheme will be able to:

• Live and work in the UK for up to three years.
• Access healthcare, benefits, employment support, education, and English language tuition.

The Government also announced that Ukrainians who have secured a visa to come to the UK will also be able to bring their pets under a ‘streamlined process’, and it will cover the costs of vaccinating, microchipping and quarantining of pets being brought.

The visa application will go live on Friday 18 March 2022.

Full details can be found on GOV.UK website.