Wiltshire Council's new homes plan to help Ukraine refugees

Ukrainian refugees facing an uncertain future could be helped through a scheme in Wiltshire with the council buying homes to lease to them.

Currently many live with families in the county, but the six-month periods with their hosts are coming to an end.

Some councils are using government grants to help pay rent, or increase support for hosts.

But Wiltshire says it wants to try an "innovative" longer term solution.

The Homes for Ukraine scheme was set up by the government to help thousands of those fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with hosts asks to provide accommodation for a minimum of six months.

At the start of this month, Wiltshire had 377 Ukrainian refugee families - around 900 people in total - living in the county.

Concerns have been raised Wiltshire hasn't been doing enough to help people prepare for the next steps and there is a fear refugees will become homeless.

However some, like Anna Grunicheva and her two teenage sons, have successfully moved out of their host's home into rented accommodation in West Overton near Marlborough.

"They're very happy here because we're safe," she told BBC Radio Wiltshire, having recently started a job in a café.

Other Ukrainians here need "lessons on English, social help, we need money and a good landlord who will accept us with a not-so-perfect story," Ms Grunicheva says.

Her former host family lives just around the corner and can still help them out.

"We've had a fantastic experience, they're like family now," says host Richard Ramsden.

But he says many others he knows are "struggling to find places to move to after the initial six months" and says "the thing that comes up time and time again is help for the next step".

Councils are given £10,000 in instalments by central government to fund support for each Ukrainian refugee, to pay for housing, education and other practical help as councils see fit.

Some councils are paying host households more to help them keep families for longer, others are paying private rent for refugees.

"If I were to pay six months rent, it would be gone in six months and I would have exactly the same problem", says Wiltshire Council's leader Richard Clewer, who describes the county's private rental market as "broken".

He's planning to use the council-owned housing company, Stone Circle, to purchase up to 100 homes which it can then lease back to Ukrainians for at least three years.

"There will be some Ukraine nationals who face an uncertain future, and this is an issue we need to address," he said.

"We are going to use the government funding in an innovative way to purchase homes that can be used for Ukraine nationals now and for wider use into the future," he said.