Information for guests

IMPORTANT! If you are at risk of becoming homeless, please fill in the housing advice form below

View housing advice form

Once we have your information, we'll contact you to discuss any help we can give you.

Rematching

The Homes for Ukraine team will first try to rematch guests with new sponsors in the Hart area. We'll encourage an informal meeting with any potential new sponsor and the family. In the short term, this is the most likely way of finding new accommodation. Please contact us at hdchomesforukraine@hart.gov.uk

Renting

The next solution available to families will be to rent accommodation within the private sector. Most landlords require a five-week deposit and one month's rent in advance. This can vary significantly according to the terms that each individual landlord or estate agent will accept. Some landlords may require at least six months’ rent in advance. Others may only accept a family who are working and/or have a guarantor. Homes for Ukraine can work with the family and potential landlords.

Benefits

To see if a family would be entitled to any benefits when renting in the private sector, go to www.entitledto.co.uk, to go through a calculation. Choose Tenant - Private sector when working out entitlements. You'll need to use an estimated rental figure if a specific property has not yet been found.

Budgets

Once you know what the family household income would be, including wages, benefits, child benefit etc, it is important to work out an estimated expenditure when renting in the private sector. The household expenditure should include all priority bills such as rent, Council Tax, utilities bills, food shopping, clothing, mobile phones and all other regular expenses within the household.

Budget calculators are available to work out estimated expenses such as the one below. There are also many others available online.

Budget Planner: how to manage your money

Saving for a deposit

While families are still living with sponsors, it may be a good time to save towards a deposit and rent for a move into the private sector. As most rental properties are unfurnished with the exception of some white goods (fridge freezer, oven) this should be taken into account when planning a household’s options for moving on.

If accommodation is found in the private sector, but some financial assistance is required to secure the accommodation, we can work with families on a case-by-case basis to see how we are able to help.

The government has put together a How to rent guide, which is also available in Ukrainian and Russian