“The world is under pressure. I can’t say with hard evidence, but my gut tells me that if they are in financial trouble [the increased payment] it will help a lot.” His comments came after Downing Street said on Monday that Boris Johnson’s final fortnight in office would include renewing support for Ukraine and highlighting measures to tackle the cost of living crisis. The peer said he was “hopeful” the Treasury would agree to his request, saying: “Every person who takes part in a sponsorship saves the state the cost of renting flats for people, so I think there is a financial reason as well. moral and humanitarian”. About 115,000 Ukrainian refugees now live in the country, housed in 25,000 houses. Hosts were asked to commit to an initial stay of six months. In the first three months of the programme, the government spent £300 million to fund local authorities to provide services to refugees and fund thanks. Lord Harrington said that in some parts of the country, the gratuity makes a “very significant factor in household costs – electricity bills, gas bills”. The peer also asked the Treasury for more money to fund English language courses for refugees so that more of them could find work that would allow them to enter the rental market – in case the number of families offering homes is cut.
Hosts ‘may be struggling themselves’
A finance ministry source said the matter would concern the new government, adding: “There is institutional reluctance to commit to public spending outside of fiscal events.” Lord Harrington also held talks with landlords to urge them to drop requirements for Ukrainians to provide details such as utility bills before being allowed to rent homes. And it is planning an advertising campaign in September to encourage more families to come forward to offer the Ukrainians a home. Lord Harrington told the Telegraph that families who signed up at the start had now received letters asking if they could continue beyond six months. Around 25 per cent have said no – meaning that unless they can be persuaded to change their minds, their refugees will have to be re-housed. Research by the Office for National Statistics, published earlier this month, found that the rising cost of living and lack of affordability was cited by 23 per cent of landlords who did not want the deal to continue beyond six months. “For some people, in the north of England £700 a month is more than you would get in rent, in the south of England it’s like a drop in the ocean in some places,” he said. “I can’t generalize but it makes sense to me that people have had increased costs and they’re all really well-meaning people but they might be struggling themselves. “When I visited Sheffield, they reported that some of the landlords were struggling with increased energy bills.”
