Ukrainians living in hotels in Yorkshire as government is blamed for Homes for Ukraine "lack of leadership"

The Homes For Ukraine scheme was set up in the aftermath of the invasion and has seen over 5,000 Ukrainians come to Yorkshire to live with sponsors.

But Ukrainians whose placements haven’t worked are at risk of homelessness due to the Government’s poor co-ordination, according to Ms Cooper, the MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.

She said: "The government has been really reluctant to make this work as effectively as they could have done. There's problems where people have only been able to stay for six months on a placement and then have become homeless.

"There's been a lack of co-ordination from the Government which is a real shame. If the Government could provide more co-ordination, that would help more families do their bit.

"There's no proper leadership in government on this now. It seems to be suspended in between two departments with neither of them doing it properly."

If a Homes for Ukraine placement cannot continue, it is up to local authorities to either find a rematch or help with accommodation.

But with lengthy housing lists, councils are struggling. In North Yorkshire, some Ukrainians are now living in hotel accommodation, Hambleton District Council revealed on Friday.

A spokesperson said: “In line with our responsibilities as a district council for the provision of suitable accommodation in the situation of temporary homelessness, we can and do provide temporary accommodation for Ukrainian refugees at a hotel in our district, similarly to other local authorities across the country.”

North Yorkshire County Council said 25 Ukrainians are in “temporary accomodation” of the 781 living in the county.

And Adam Nicholas, caseworker at Citizens’ Advice North Yorkshire, said the organisation was experiencing an increase in calls from Ukrainians with housing worries after their Homes for Ukraine placements came to an end.

He said: “There there have been a lot more calls from people trying to understand what's available.

"The predominant advice has been to get people into private rentals because the social housing market is absurd.

“It’s a nightmare in certain situations where there’s no availability of housing, and there are people who have had to go into temporary accommodation.”

Mr Nicholas sai Harrogate was a particular hot-spot for Ukrainians with housing concerns.

Nicola David, chair of Ripon City of Sanctuary, helps to run a matching service for Ukrainians wanting to come to North Yorkshire.

She said: “There’s no ability now to place new Ukrainian families, and it’s getting harder and harder to rematch where a placement hasn’t worked.

“It’s heartbreaking. In the past two or three weeks, I’ve been approached by a few groups of people we’ve not been able to help.

“I just feel really sad that the the people who were brave enough to stick it out at the beginning, you could say they stuck it out for too long.

“And there isn’t the appetite there any more.

“I think a lot of people who might have hosted have panicked because of the cost of living crisis.”

The perceived length of the placements may also be putting would-be hosts off, said Ms David as some families have now been hosting for the best part of a year.

“Obviously, the goal is to help people to move on and find jobs. I have people messaging me saying they feel terrible but they just can’t host any more,” she said.

It comes as the British Red Cross said gaps in support and barriers to securing accommodation are making life hard for Ukrainian families.

Some 4,000 Ukrainian households in England have been homeless or at risk of homelessness in the last year, according to the charity’s latest report.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “These claims are untrue. We are working across government to bring as many Ukrainians as possible to safety and as a result, more than 115,800 have arrived since we launched Homes for Ukraine last year.”