In the UK, a sharp increase in the number of homeless Ukrainian refugees began due to the crisis in the country.
“Currently, 2985 IDPs have complained to the self-government bodies about the lack of shelter. However, the actual figure may be higher, as not all local authorities provided the data to the government everywhere,” the article says.
The publication notes that the chairman of the Local Government Association, James Jamison, expressed concern about this situation. In his opinion, the authorities should increase the amount of financial support for households so that they do not refuse to accept Ukrainians because of the crisis in the cost of living in Britain.
At the same time, a government source stressed that the housing problems faced by refugees were inevitable. However, he agreed that today’s homelessness in the country is growing too fast.
Earlier, on December 5, The Times newspaper wrote about the increase in the number of homeless Ukrainian refugees. As reported, this situation occurred due to the fact that host families stopped providing support to those who decided to leave Ukraine. According to the publication, Housing and Utilities Minister Michael Gove is considering doubling the level of payments to host families in order to prevent a crisis.
Earlier, on November 24, it became known that refugees from Ukraine are facing discrimination from British landlords who deliberately deny them housing.
The Telegraph newspaper on November 17 reported that the council of the British county of Wiltshire intends to purchase houses for Ukrainian refugees, which will then be rented out to them. It is noted that similar measures are also considered by the authorities of other regions.
At the same time, in mid-October, the British newspaper Daily Mail wrote that due to the rising cost of living in the UK, they began to gradually phase out the “Houses for Ukraine” program. As a result, refugees are increasingly becoming homeless, which causes some concern in society.
As the authors of the material note, currently about 2 thousand citizens of Ukraine are left without a roof over their heads. In total, a little less than 100,000 refugees have arrived in the UK since the beginning of the Russian special operation.
At the end of August, it became known that about a quarter of the participants in the program sponsoring the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees want to leave it. The reason was increased prices and increased electricity bills.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, from February 24 to November 15, 2022, a total of more than 7.8 million refugees from Ukraine arrived in Europe.