Homes for Ukraine scheme
This scheme opened on 18 March 2022 for visa applications from individuals or households fleeing from Ukraine who have named people in the UK willing to sponsor them for 6 to 12 months. If you would like to participate in the Homes for Ukraine scheme, please view sponsor guidance on the GOV.UK website.
There are many things to consider when signing up to the scheme and a checklist issued by Lancashire County Council will help you make an informed decision.
Lancashire County Council have also launched a Homes for Ukraine Facebook page and a Homes for Ukraine webpage which provides practical information for anyone in Lancashire wanting to offer their home or spare room under the scheme.
Both Lancashire County Council and Chorley Council are responsible for coordinating different aspects of the scheme. Please see a breakdown below of these responsibilities.
Lancashire County Council |
Chorley Council |
---|---|
DBS checks |
Property checks |
Welfare checks (families) |
Welfare checks (individuals) |
Welcome/arrival payments for guests |
Thank you payments for sponsors |
Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme
In February 2024, the Home Office announced that Ukrainians in the UK on the Ukraine visa schemes would be able to apply for the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) visa scheme when their existing visa expired. This will grant them a further 18 months stay in the UK.
To ensure that Ukrainians still in Homes for Ukraine sponsorship arrangements are supported as they transition to UPE visas, the Home Office will be extending thank you payments for eligible hosts for the 18 months they are covered by the Visa issued under the UPE scheme. After a guest’s initial 18 month UPE period, thank you payments will discontinue. Further funding for this period is designed to provide guests and their sponsors with time to plan to live independently and, if needed, to secure independently funded accommodation.
To support this transition, they will be signposting hosts to the ‘rent a room’ scheme for those who wish to convert their lodging arrangements with their sponsors.
Sponsors who are closely related to their guests and who are currently in receipt of Thank You payments, will no longer be eligible for Thank You payments when their guest moves on to the UPE visa. This is in line with the changes the Home Office made for new applications for thank you payments on 1 October 2024. View more information on becoming a sponsor: Homes for Ukraine on the GOV.UK website.
The policy also applies to hosts of eligible minors. View more information on guidance for sponsors (children and minors applying without parents or legal guardians) on the GOV.UK website.
View more information on the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme including how to apply on the GOV.UK website.
Moving on
We encourage sponsors to talk to their guest shortly after their arrival in the UK about the options for their next steps and develop a plan for how they will move on. Accessing social or privately rented accommodation and having the financial resources in place to support these moves requires planning.
We delivered a series of workshops on housing and moving on, you can access the presentations below in both English and Ukrainian. You can access these below in both English and Ukrainian.
Housing and moving on presentation - English
Housing and moving on presentation - Ukrainian
Similarly, if guests are considering renting private accommodation, the government has published a guide to help guests understand. View the how to rent in England guide on the GOV.UK website.
This will help guests when they are ready and able to move out of sponsorship into independent accommodation.
View the how to rent guide in Ukrainian.
View the how to rent guide in Russian.
Other visas you may apply for
You may be eligible to make an application under other immigration routes. View more information on UK visa support for Ukrainian nationals on the GOV.UK website.