You can become a Homes for Ukraine sponsor if you are a British Citizen, have leave to remain here or you are bringing your Ukrainian child over that is under 18 years old. 

You will need to have room in your home to allow them to stay comfortably and it be available for at least 6 months. You will also need to satisfy a DBS check.

Your home would need to be in a satisfactory state of repair. This includes somewhere to cook, clean and have adequate heating.

Lancashire Council can help you find someone in the UK who needs rehoming in the local area or we can put you in touch with Ukrainians that are still in Ukraine and looking to come over.

After the guest arrives you can start to collect Thank You Payments. These will be given after you have successfully completed the housing check, DBS and a visit from a welfare officer after the guest has arrived.

You can find information of how to apply for Thank you payments by selecting your local council below. You will not be eligible for Thank you payments if the guest is a close relative.

Burnley

Chorley

Fylde

Hyndburn

​Lancaster​

Pendle

Preston

Ribble Valley

Rossendale

South Ribble

West Lancs

Wyre​

Some Ukrainians will speak good English and some will not be as fluent. There are many ESOL language courses available in many areas. 

Apps such as Google translate will help with basics and you can even use Google to translate writing  using your camera on your smartphone.

If you would like to learn a little Ukrainian then many apps such as Duolingo will help you from a beginner level. We also offer short group courses at any level to learn Ukrainian online with a Ukrainian teacher. Please check out our available courses on the Courses page.

We do try and arrange events for Ukrainians in the area but these are done more by support groups in your local area. We are trying to collate events for each district so you can see them all on our website. We are constantly trying to populate our events page with all events organised in the Lancashire area. Attending events is a great way to build a support group and increasing social connections.​​

Sponsors and guests are all different. It is hard to say exactly what you will need to help them with. Some Ukrainians speak very good English and will need little help. Others may not speak any English and will need help with such things as registering for doctors, opening bank accounts, registering with universal credit and maybe even finding school places for their children. This does seem like a lot to do at the start because many British people have done this little by little over many years but the sooner it is done the easier it will become and the faster your guest can start to integrate.​​

You can ask them for a contribution towards the increase in utility costs. This has to be proportionate to the increase they create. Some sponsors decide to do this and some do not so it depends on your situation. It is a good way for them to see what the typical costs of utilities are in Lancashire so they are more prepared if they go on to live here independently.

You can not ask them to pay rent as you will receive the Thank You Payment.​​​

We can not say every placement will go well and that is why it is best to always speak, message and video with your guest before they arrive. If you feel that something is not right please get in touch and we can discuss things. You can also contact your district council or Lancashire County Council and they have people available to discuss things. There some cultural differences between the UK and Ukraine and we try to cover these on some of our Blogs. Just remember everyone is different and sometimes things just take time. ​​

Some important things to know and think about when sponsoring a Ukrainian guest.​

Your utility bills will increase but as we mentioned earlier you are able to ask your guest or guests to contribute to these increases.

Ukrainians are disregarded fully in terms of council tax if living with you, so if you get single person or any income based discounts they will not effect them. If they live in a property you own they are disregarded until they go on the visa extension scheme after their initial visa expires.

They will not stop you paying bedroom tax if you currently are.

They will not effect any benefits you currently get.

The money you receive as a thank you payment is non taxable and does not need to be declared.