Wiltshire Council plans to buy homes for lease to Ukrainian refugees

The authority's considering a scheme to save people from homelessness

Author: Faye TryhornPublished 9th Nov 2022

Wiltshire Council plans to buy homes and lease them out to Ukrainian refugees who want to stay in the county.

It follows concerns that people settling here could become homeless, once they have to leave their host family.

The government set up ‘Homes for Ukraine’ in order to give those fleeing from the Russian invasion, a place to stay.

Some councils are using government grants to help pay rent and help the hosts, but Wiltshire Council say they're preparing an ‘innovative’ long-term solution.

They're planning to use the council-owned housing company, Stone Circle, to buy up to 100 homes they can lease to the Ukrainians.

Leader of Wiltshire Council, Richard Clewer, has told Greatest Hits Radio that he's been working tirelessly to get the scheme in place and believes that the idea will have great benefits to the Ukrainians.

However, he is aware that some refugees could still become homeless:

“I wouldn’t want to give false hope. There is definitely a risk that you will see Ukrainian refugees become, ‘technically’ homeless. That means falling into the system of provision for someone becoming homeless, which is the only way that they are going to, if they need to, get on to the housing register.

“We will be able to provide a lot of support through Stone Circle. But it depends on the flow of properties, suitable properties, that can be found and purchased coming through. So there is no guarantee that we can provide. I need to be really clear about that.

“As these tenures with host families come to an end, you will see across the country, refugees becoming technically homeless. That doesn’t mean they’re on the streets. It will mean they might need to go to temporary accommodation, or there will be a period where after they’ve been given notice by the host family, where they can then find other accommodation, particularly if that’s going to be through the council housing."

When asked whether Wiltshire has been accommodating for refugees coming here from Ukraine, the Cllr replied:

“Extremely, yes. The Wiltshire population has been really good in putting themselves forward. My understanding is, we have the second largest number of refugees of any authority in the UK. So yes, the population has been great with their response.

“As a council, we’ve done everything we can to put the support in. But we wouldn’t have been able to do what we’ve done without the support of the Ukraine hubs. I’ve been closely involved with the Salisbury Ukraine Hub and seeing what they’re doing and also dealing with some of the other hubs across the county. The support they’ve provided, particularly with some language support, has been really good to make sure the refugees feel welcomed and we’re giving them the support they need.

“The other bit you’ve got to mention is schools. The team at the council has done an excellent job of putting refugees into schools in the best possible way we can.”

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