You can read Suffolk County Council's statement on our website.
![Councillor Peter Gould](/image-library/peter-gould-ws-hr-1.xb6cb8b20.jpg?width=470&height=256&fit=crop&quality=75&format=webp)
You can read Suffolk County Council's statement on our website.
An information pack has been created for sponsors in Suffolk, which contains information about the programme and how to support your guest to access healthcare services, applying for a school place and more. You can view the information pack below:
Homes for Ukraine is the UK Government scheme to enable the British public to sponsor and host Ukrainian refugees to come to the UK. Read more about the scheme on the Homes for Ukraine pages on the UK Government website. We use the term “sponsor” for those who sponsor a visa application and “host” for anyone offering their property to house Ukrainians.
Read the Government’s guide for Sponsors and Hosts here: Homes for Ukraine: sponsor guides - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Hosts with a spare room or separate self-contained accommodation that is unoccupied can come forward to help.
Accommodation must be available for at least 6 months, be fit for people to live in, and suitable for the number of people to be accommodated. This can be anything from an empty room to an unoccupied home, as long as it’s safe, heated and free from health hazards, and gives your guests adequate access to bathroom and kitchen facilities. As an example, providing a sofa bed in a living area would not be suitable as there must be a separate room to give the guests some privacy. Basic accommodation needs: Homes for Ukraine - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Any council tax discounts you receive will not be affected if you sponsor and host Ukrainian guests in your home under this scheme.
If you rent, you should seek the permission of your landlord (written evidence of this will need to be provided). You’ll need to check with your landlord, freeholder or mortgage provider, and insurance company, about whether they’ve got any policies which you need to factor in. It’s important you think through any possible implications for your tenancy, mortgage, lease and insurance before your guest arrives.
You should also consider if the location of your accommodation is suitable in terms of easy access to services, for example, public transport, schools and shops.
For the host to be eligible for 'thank you' payments, the guest is expected to use the host property as their main home. 'Thank you' payments are not able to be made for properties which are a second or part time dwelling.
From 19 February 2024, changes were made to the Government guidance. All new sponsors of Homes for Ukraine applications must be either British or Irish citizens or have indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK and commit to a minimum 6-month sponsorship period.
To become a recognised sponsor, and to qualify for any payments and support, you will need to register with the Government Homes for Ukraine scheme. As part of this, you must be prepared:
Additionally, you should give careful thought to your ability:
To become a recognised sponsor, and to qualify for any payments and support, you must register on the Homes for Ukraine website, managed and run by the UK government. If you are interested in hosting Ukrainians on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme who are already in Suffolk, you can also sign up at Homes for Ukraine - Expression of Interest (office.com).
As part of this process:
You can find guidance for sponsors on the GOV.UK website.
There are three routes to finding a Ukrainian guest to sponsor.
Firstly, you may already know whom you wish to sponsor. If you already know an eligible Ukrainian person and have agreed to sponsor them, you can liaise with them directly to fill in their visa application together (please see below for more information on this process). There are no officially recognised methods for doing this, and care must be taken to ensure you are confident regarding who you are in contact with and to avoid sharing your personal information with unscrupulous people who may be seeking to exploit the current situation.
Secondly, there are a number of charities and non-government organisations working to match potential sponsors and guests. Once registered on the government site you may wish to approach a charity and register your interest with them. Please note that local charity Suffolk Refugee Support are not involved in registering offers of accommodation or matching hosts with refugees.
Some charities working in this field include:
Find out more about linking with a guest on the GOV.UK website.
Thirdly, you may prefer to host someone who has already received their Homes for Ukraine visa and settled in Suffolk but now needs to move on. If you have registered your interest either through the Government website Homes for Ukraine: record your interest - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) or using Suffolk’s online form Homes for Ukraine - Expression of Interest (office.com). Suffolk County Council will contact you when a guest is seeking accommodation in your area. If you already know the guest(s) you wish to host, please contact refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk
Once you have matched with a Ukrainian person or family that you wish to host, the following steps must be undertaken:
These are not always done in the same order, but they must all be completed.
If your guest is not already in the UK, you or your guest must apply for a visa to enable them to travel to the UK. A separate form must be completed for everyone who wishes to be sponsored and is intending to travel.
The visa application will ask for your personal information in order to confirm your identity and eligibility to be a sponsor. As much as we wish to believe everyone is genuine, there have been reports of people exploiting the current situation to commit identity fraud or apply for more visas than agreed with their sponsor. If you are providing your personal information to your guest to enable them to apply for their visa, or if you are offering your accommodation via a community group or other organisation, please make sure you know they are legitimate.
If you have concerns about sharing personal details, you may prefer to fill out the visa application form on behalf of the individuals you are sponsoring. To do this, you will need to ask them for their information. Read more about this or apply for a visa on the Government website.
Sometimes visas will be issued before other checks are completed.
Once you have registered as a host with the Government's Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) or via Suffolk County Council’s online form, your details will be downloaded by Suffolk County Council. The Council is then required to do a DBS check of all adults over 16 in your household, even if you have an existing certificate.
The process for this is as follows:
There is a range of documents that each person will need to produce to verify their identity. Visit what documents do you need for a DBS check application? - DBS Checks to see a list of documents suitable for a DBS check. If all guests are adults who are not classed as vulnerable, we will undertake a standard DBS check. We will undertake an enhanced DBS + barring list check where any guests are children / aged over 65 / adults with identified disabilities/illnesses/learning difficulties.
We aim to undertake our checks before guests arrive whenever possible. If your guests have already arrived, or are arriving imminently and your check has not yet been undertaken, please contact us at refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk and we will endeavour to prioritise your checks.
From the 1 November 2023, Suffolk County Council will be seeking additional checks on hosts who have lived overseas in the last 5 years.
Any Suffolk resident wishing to become a host, who has lived overseas and in the last 5 years is required to obtain an overseas criminal record check as part of our local checking process, prior to a guest taking residence with them. Only lead hosts need to obtain the certificate.
This check will need to be undertaken before Suffolk County Council making the ‘Thank you’ payments.
You can obtain your overseas criminal record check from the following areas of the gov.uk website:
Cost of Certificate
The cost of the certificate is the responsibility of the applying host. Please note, further costs may be involved if translated copy is required. However, an un-translated version will require further time to process by Suffolk County Council.
The cost of the certificate is the responsibility of the applying host. Please note, further costs may be involved if a translated copy is required. However, an untranslated version will require further time to process by Suffolk County Council
On receiving the certificate, a copy should be sent via email to refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk.
Please include your Host ID for reference, this can be found in the subject of the conformation email which will be sent to you after your initial telephone call with the Homes for Ukraine team member.
A complete copy of the certificate is required and must clearly show all pages for processing as part of your application.
We will also check the suitability of your property. The process for this is as follows:
Suffolk County Council is committed to protecting your privacy and will treat an individual’s personal data in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Legislation. Your information will not be used for other purposes or supplied to third parties except in accordance with the law. Under the Data Protection Legislation, you have a number of rights regarding any personal data held by us in relation to this project. See our Homes for Ukraine Scheme privacy notices for full details.
In addition to the Frequently Asked questions below, we recommend you also familiarise yourself with the contents of our Information for Ukrainian Guests section.
We recognise that refugees are escaping dire conditions and we will do everything in our power to accommodate as many people as possible – but we also have to ensure that living arrangements are realistic over a long-term six to 12 month period for both hosts and guests. We want to ensure we are giving people a stable and safe refuge, not further change and upheaval in 2-3 months’ time when their cramped living arrangements – however well-intentioned – become untenable for either party.
For this reason we are likely to refuse applications that rely on the use of sofa beds in living rooms, and/or where adults cannot have their own bedroom space. You can find out more about the Government guidelines we use for housing checks on the Homes for Ukraine: guidance for councils webpage.
Not all DBS checks are the same or may be out of date. To ensure the safety of Ukraine guests we require all adults over 16 in the household, or another property being offered by the Lead Sponsor, to undergo an appropriate DBS check.
Council tax discounts will not be affected if you host a Ukrainian household in your home. If you rent, you should seek the permission of your landlord. You’ll need to check with your landlord, freeholder or mortgage provider, and insurance company, about whether they’ve got any policies which you need to factor in. It’s important you think through any possible implications for your tenancy, mortgage, lease and insurance before your guest arrives in the UK.
The Department for Education understands that some childminders in England are keen to join the many others who have signed-up to host people from Ukraine under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and Ukraine Family Scheme. Please advise your clients that you will have additional people in your home.
Government guidance advises that sponsors who have applied via the Homes for Ukraine scheme will be eligible for a monthly 'thank you' payment. As part of the initial contact with sponsors, Suffolk County Council will be asking if you wish to claim the monthly payment and, if so, will request bank details from the lead sponsor. Payments made after the 1st of April 2024 will be made at the following levels:
Government guidance states that the payments can only start once the following checks have been completed:
Payments are made monthly in arrears on the second Wednesday of the month and may take a week to fourteen days to reach your bank account.
Central Government guidance has been updated via the Autumn Statement to reflect that the scheme has been extended into a third year.
From 3pm on 19 February 2024, successful visa applications will be for a period of 18 months and therefore Thank you payments will be made for 18 months. For those on 3 year visas, Thank you payments will be made for the 3 year period of the visa.
Host thank you payments are made monthly in arrears.
If your guests arrive with you before the middle of a month, the first payment will be made the following month. So, if your guest arrives on 2 May, you will receive your first payment in June. If your guests arrive after the mid-month point, your payments will start in the 2nd month after their arrival. So, if your guest arrives on 29 May, your first payment will be made in July.
When guests leave your hosting arrangement, thank you payments due to sponsors are calculated by counting each full calendar month from the start of the month your guest arrived, to the end of the month that your guest leaves. Any days your guest is with you before the first full calendar month and any days after the last full calendar month are added together (including the day of arrival but not the day of departure) and if this totals 16 days or more, sponsors will be eligible to be paid for an additional month. The calculations are based on the last date the guest spent at the host property.
It is the responsibility of the host to inform Suffolk County Council that their guests have left the property.
The below table gives some examples of when sponsors would be eligible for an additional month’s payment.
Guest Arrives |
Guest Departs |
Number of full calendar months |
Number of additional days outside calendar months (Days in start month + days in end month - not including day of departure) |
Eligible for additional month's payment? |
Total number of month payments due |
1 May 2023 |
17 June 2023 |
1 |
16 |
Yes |
2 |
16 May 2023 |
1 July 2023 |
1 |
16 |
Yes |
2 |
19 May 2023 |
7 July 2023 |
1 |
19 |
Yes |
2 |
30 May 2023 |
1 August |
2 |
1 |
No |
2 |
Suffolk County Council will re calculate the payments made to hosts where guests have already left, and if any further payments are due, we will automatically make these to hosts who have already chosen to receive Thank You Payments. If you are eligible, you will automatically receive any additional payments by 31st July 2023. This will be backdated to the beginning of the scheme (March 2022). Hosts do not need to do anything in order to receive these payments.
With effect from the 1st of April 2024, Suffolk County Council will be funding an increase to the rate of monthly Thank You payments. Host Thank You payments are made monthly, in arrears, so the first increase will be seen in the payments received in May 2024.
If you sign up to the scheme and all checks are completed, you will be eligible for a monthly £350 'Thank you' payment, rising to £500 per month once your guests have been in the UK for more than 12 months or you have hosted for over 6 months.
Once your guests have been in the UK for more than 12 months or you have hosted for over 6 months, the thank you payment increases.
Hosts will automatically receive this payment increase. If you do not currently receive
‘Thank you’ payments and would like to do so, please contact refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk to see if you are eligible.
Current sponsors who have chosen to receive Thank You Payments will receive payment automatically, where eligible, when guests leave them. Hosts do not need to do anything, and this will be an automatic process.
If you should have any further queries do not hesitate to contact us directly at refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk
Once your guest(s) has arrived at your address, please email refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk and use the title ‘Refugee £200 payment’ in the subject line. So that we can make direct payments to your guests, please provide the name(s) of the refugee(s), their own personal mobile phone number and own contact email, plus the address where they are living and the date of arrival. Where there are children in the group, please provide the names of the children but include the email address or phone number of their responsible adult from the refugee group. If the refugee guests do not have their own mobile phone number or email address, we can arrange to post the e-vouchers to them.
The refugee guest(s) will receive one e-voucher per person (for example, a parent with two children will receive three e-vouchers. They all look the same, so they will need to make sure that they open all three text messages or emails in order to access all three E-vouchers). The e-voucher link can be opened directly from the text or email; there is no need to download the Wonde app, but if your guest has any difficulty opening the e-vouchers, please email us at refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk.
The e-vouchers can be cashed at Post Offices, and your guest can choose to cash all three at the same time, or separately on different dates. Please note that it can take up to 3 working days for the Post Office computer system to be able to recognise and redeem the voucher number and provide the cash payment. This means, for instance, that any e-vouchers we request on a Friday are not live on the Post Office system before the following Tuesday.
Please notify refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk if your guest is away for more than four consecutive weeks. In this instance, we will pause the thank you payments until your guest’s return. For more information, please see If your guest will be absent temporarily: Homes for Ukraine - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Hosts are under no obligation to provide childcare to guests who have children, and if childcare arrangements are agreed, these should not be prolonged or frequent.
In the event that the host takes responsibility for a guest’s children for more than 28 days the host must contact Suffolk County Council Homes for Ukraine team at refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk
Suffolk County Council is committed to protecting your privacy and will treat an individual’s personal data in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Legislation. Your information will not be used for other purposes or supplied to third parties except in accordance with the law.
Under the Data Protection Legislation, you have a number of rights regarding any personal data held by us in relation to this project. See our Homes for Ukraine Scheme privacy notices for full details.
The bringing your pet to the UK from Ukraine guidance from the Government indicates that checks should have been made at the point of entry to the UK. However, we have become aware that some refugee guests have been able to bring their pets through without the checks being undertaken.
If your guests have met the requirements or have obtained a license from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) prior to travel, this will state whether the pet(s) needed to spend some time in quarantine or not. Please check and, if this is specified on the license, or if they did not obtain a license or comply with the requirements outlined in the above link prior to travel, please take photographs of any paperwork relating to the pet and contact Suffolk Trading Standards to discuss this as soon as possible on 01473 264859 (option 3) or e-mail trading.standards@suffolk.gov.uk during normal working hours. Outside of normal working hours please contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency, telephone: 03000 200 301.
Government update and guidance February 2024
Guests can complete their Ukraine Scheme application when in the UK if they:
Guests with a Ukrainian international passport can now use the UK Immigration ID Check App when submitting their Ukraine Family Visa application while in Ukraine. This will avoid the need to enrol at a Biometric Enrolment Centre and will allow Ukrainians to get a digital status without a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). Find out more about the UK Immigration ID Check App on the GOV.UK website.
Those who already applied without the app will still need to enrol for a BRP. They must apply online for a visa, and if granted, can travel to the UK and receive entry clearance in their passport. This stamp is valid for 6 months. During this time, they need to apply for the full 3 year visa. The same process applies for the Family Visa and the Homes for Ukraine route. Apply for a Biometric Residence Permit via the GOV.UK website.
Once an online application has been completed, applicants will be able to book a biometric appointment. Find your nearest biometric centre.
The Ukraine Family scheme was closed to new applications from 3pm on 19 February 2024.
The Ukraine Family Scheme allowed applicants to join family members or extend their stay in the UK.
For more information or to apply:
If the UK-based family member is a (or an extended family member’s) spouse, civil partner, fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner, the relationship must have started before 1 January 2022. Other family members will be considered where there are exceptional circumstances.
From 3pm on 19 February 2024 the Home Office announced that existing Ukraine scheme visa holders will be able to apply for permission to remain in the UK for an additional 18 months under a new Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme set to open in early 2025 (before the first Ukraine scheme visas start to expire in March 2025). The Ukraine Extension Scheme would remain open beyond 16 May 2024 for children born in the UK to parents who hold permission under the Ukraine schemes.
Find out more and apply for the Ukraine Extension Scheme on the GOV.UK website.
Please note: external resources, tools and apps may not be accessible to users of assistive technology. Suffolk County Council has not checked and is not responsible for the content of third-party organisations, websites and apps.
English Unlocked provide communication courses for hosts of refugees which can support you to learn language techniques to help you better communicate with your guest. They run regular online workshops. Visit their events page to find out more or to sign up.
The Open University offers a free introduction to Ukrainian language and culture for hosts and those supporting Ukrainians.
Links CVS have compiled Cultural Sensitivity Sheets to help both Host families and Refugees.
Be very clear with the guest when you would like them to leave, preferably in writing and giving them adequate notice of your requirements.
At 4, 10 and 18 months after your guest arrival date you will be contacted by the Suffolk County Council Homes for Ukraine team. It is best if you can have the conversation with your guest(s) about what will happen at 6 months, 12 or 24 months in advance of the meeting. You can then discuss the options at the meeting which will include:
or
You may be able to help find a new host through your friends, family, contacts at work, social groups, your local faith group or in the local Homes for Ukraine community group organised by Community Action Suffolk. If you are not aware of the local community group, please contact ukrainesupport@communityactionsuffolk.org.uk
You may be able to help with finding rented accommodation through your personal contacts. The Government have published a guide to help guests understand how to rent in England and there is also a note from Suffolk County Council on the rented sector.
If you have a property or annex you can offer for rent to your guest, be clear on the level of rent you will charge, who will be responsible for utility bills and Council tax, the usual amounts charged and draw up an agreement. Please note that if you charge rent you would not be eligible for the HfU host thank you payment.
Encourage your guests to be proactive and try to seek out new hosts or rented property. They can go back to Reset or the charity that matched them to you initially to ask, see Recognised Providers: Organisations who can help guests from Ukraine find sponsors in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) to try to find a new host, or they can contact your District/Borough housing team if they need help with a deposit for a rented property.
For more information about the support available, please see the housing tab on the information for guests page.
Please ensure your guests tell Suffolk County Council by emailing refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk as soon as a new host property is found as property and safeguarding checks need to be completed on new Homes for Ukraine hosts before they move to the new host.
If your guests are struggling to find a new host, especially if they wish to keep children in the same schools, or 4 weeks before the notice end date, ensure they email Suffolk County Council at refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk, who will try to find a new host. The Council cannot guarantee to find a host in the location or timescale requested as it will depend on the availability of hosts so we kindly ask for your patience on this.
Email refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk when you know what your guest(s) plan is and when your guest(s) moves out. Your thank you payment will then stop. Please note you will receive a payment for the final month if your guest(s) has been with you for more than half of that calendar month. It is the hosts responsibility to inform Suffolk County Council Homes for Ukraine team that their guest has left the property, the calculations are based on the last night spent at the property.
If you would consider hosting more Ukrainian guests, please let us know at: refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk
10 Month and 18 Month stages: many of the guest who fled the war in Ukraine have now been resident in the United Kingdom for over a year, as part of our dedication to the journey of both the host and the guest we will be completing a further welfare check to see what plans there may be for you both moving on. At 10 and 18 months of your guest being in the country an email from Suffolk County Council will be sent to you with a questionnaire attached, if you can fill this out with as much detail as possible so that we can understand what your plans are to potentially host for longer, or if you would like your guest to move to another host or into independent living.
It is important to be open with your guest about your plans and if you would like them to move out at any stage, that you keep them informed of this as soon as possible and give them adequate notice.
At 4, 10 and 18 months of arrival in the UK, Suffolk County Council will contact the guest via email to book a telephone call or visit with them. It is important that we speak to them at these stages as part of the ongoing welfare checks we complete and if you can encourage them to reply to our email with a suitable time to book the call.
If at any time you would like to speak to a member of the Homes for Ukraine team, or have any concerns about a guest please email refugeesupport@suffolk.gov.uk
Protecting Ukrainian refugees from the risk of trafficking and being exploited on their arrival in the UK is a priority for councils. The following information aims to help you to be able to spot the signs of exploitation and to know how you can report any concerns.