To dump my Ukrainian guests as homeless?

[razzbo]

It's not as evil as it sounds, bear with me. They have been living with me for 6 months and their jobs here have ended. I live in a very rural place, they don't drive and don't speak English. There is basically no chance of them getting other jobs here. The jobs they had here were given out of charity to be honest. They have found new jobs in Scotland - all 3 of them working in the same place, full time, £10 an hour, where there are other Ukrainians. Which I think they are very lucky to get considering they speak no English.

So we looked at finding them somewhere to rent but they looked at the price of rent and said no. They wanted me to find them a new sponsor so they could live for free. I tried my hardest but the council said no, and facebook said no. There are no sponsors. The council said to try the housing associations for a cheap place so I tried them all. Took forever to get answers out of them but the answers were no. They still won't rent privately. Then one of the housing association people suggested I make them homeless so that they get given temporary accommodation. My guests were up for this. I phoned around and found out all the details. 5 separate council employees (both here and in Scotland) said it was an OK idea and that they would be given somewhere to live. The plan was made - I was meant to be taking them next week and leaving them there. I phoned the council in Scotland today to just check the times of the homelessness drop-in and to check whether there was anything else I needed to know. Again, all was fine.

THEN the woman phoned me back to say she'd spoken to her manager who had said that because they are in England now and are registered at my address, they can't be made homeless in Scotland (even though they have jobs there, i.e. a reason to be there). She said that if I took them to the drop-in the council would not accept responsibility for them and would not give them housing and I would actually be making them PROPERLY HOMELESS and they would be sleeping on the street.

I cried on the phone. Basically, the truth is that I have to get rid of them. I can't handle them living in my house any more. I have been so kind and nice to them but it's been too much. They won't leave unless they have jobs to go to as they just want the money. They refuse to rent. I could make them homeless here but I would have to live with them hating me and crying at me (they do this a lot to get their way) while waiting for their new accommodation.

I was so close to being free. If I'd never phoned the council today I could have just taken them to Scotland and left them and been none the wiser about it all. What should I do? If it was you, would you just take them anyway? Surely the council has a duty of care to anyone who turns up saying they are homeless? Surely if you are a homeless human being it doesn't matter which county you last lived in? Also they have a child with them. Surely they will be given somewhere to stay if I take them to the drop-in?

You gave them a home.for as long as they needed it, not until you got fed up.

If you kick them out they will be taking up a property someone else needs.

You need to home them indefinately or until they decide to leave.

(Unless you explicitly put
a time limit on it up front.)

The time limit is six months or until you can't cope.

The end.

There isnt a moral responsibility attached to looking after adults with jobs who just don't like paying rent.

It patronising and disrespectful to Ukrainians to say they deserve special treatment for disrespecting hosts who have gone out of their way from guests.

They were offered free accomodation they're entitled to get used to it.

Landlords don't say after 6 months "actually you're better off than I thought, I want more". The agreement was free accomodation with no time limit. I'm in awe of the OP for making such an offer - she's a better person than me - but it can't reasonably be withdrawn.

You got a link to that six month time.limit? If so she's ok to let them go. I'd be surprised if there was such a time limit.

You're funny.

Yes you sign up for six months however if the relationship breaks down, how exactly are you supposed to continue.

If someone is taking advantage then you are within your rights to say if someone is living in your house.

Sorry but I don't hold any truck with the 'but your moral responsibility' or 'I told you so' crowds.

They no nothing and they are cowardly for not even giving it a go.

"they're entitled to get used to it"

Nope, they're not entitled to anything if they're behaving badly or if they can afford to be self sufficient once initially settled.

Exactly.

Your house. Your rules.

The end.

Otherwise its abusing the situation.

Its not OK. Putting up with it is allowing yourself to be exploited.

Why should anyone 'put up with that'.

Nope.

Just nope

Hosts have gone further than others to actually do something. Something that we should do as a nation regardless of how poor people are here.

Well, if you really sign up for six months then clearly she's done everything she agreed and they need to leave. It seems an odd thing not to mention in the first post, though.

Ukrainians are not saints, they are regular people. Some will be wonderful, others will be chancers. Most will be in between. If they want to be able to work but live rent free then I would say they are erring towards the ‘chancer’ end of the spectrum.

For people saying "those refugees", believe it or not, that could be you tomorrow. They need lots of respect. They haven't left their homes to take advantage of people in some other country. What happend to the OP it's not the norm.
I am hosting a Ukranian lady. I live in Ireland and own my house. She insists in paying rent but I refused. She works very hard in the hospitality sector. I can't take her money, myself and my husband have good jobs and live comfortably. The Irish government already pay some money for hosting her.
I don't do it for money, I am privileged and very happy to be in the position to help people like her.

Well done OP , enjoy having your home back .
consider mailing their boxes ? How far did you drive them for ? Unfortunately the local hosts are having similar problems to yours . Some actually went on Facebook telling their host was putting them on the street , turns out a complete lie , all they did was saying their mum who had just arrived could nit joined them , she was already hosting 3 people and let them stay 6 weeks but told them they all had to leave . The poor woman was getting all sorts of hate until a few people including me actually started asking questions .

Refugees are just people. Some are hardworking, some are lazy. Some have been through a horribly stressful & traumatic situation but are thriving and some have been through an objectively less stressful & traumatic one but are really struggling.
The basis of the homes for Ukraine scheme was to offer a place for 6 months. Coming up to the 6 month mark you are asked if you will extend. Some people have and others haven’t. Situations change over that time frame and people don’t know in advance if it will work well.
Can I just add a definition of Virtue signalling - “the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one's good character or the moral correctness of one's position on a particular issue”
So that would not be opening your home to a stranger or a family of them for months & helping them get settled in a new country. That would be spouting on social media about how we should do something about issue x while doing bugger all yourself. The whole I told you so/anyone can see it’s a stupid idea brigade actually come much closer to the concept than anyone hosting.

Landlords get money!
OP would have had a paltry £350 for four people who ran her absolutely ragged.

She absolutely did the right thing terminating their stay after six months, as is every other person who is unhappy with how their 'Guest/s' are acting.

One is a host, not a slave, a PA or a doormat.

Well done Op - you did a great thing and have given them a great start to their time in the UK. Now it's up to them to sort themselves out - something which they sound perfectly capable of doing.

For temporary accommodation you sign an agreement to pay rent, whether that comes from benefits or wages. If you don't pay you're evicted, same as any other accommodation, except it's probably a lot easier with it being emergency temporary accommodation otherwise the council's would have people squatting in it all the time.

OP that doesn't surprise me about charities. Shelter in particular are good for tenants. They advise how to keep a roof over their heads, which often means squatting in the accommodation they currently have until legally evicted. Luckily you were within your rights to evict straight away.
Don't deliver their boxes! They can arrange a courier to collect. They've been rude and treated you like staff and not even thanked you for your help and kindness and generosity.

Sorry to hear it was even more of a nightmare but I'm really glad you've got your house (and life!) back.

Please don't blame yourself for not setting boundaries. It sounds like no matter what you did, you would have had issues getting them to move on.

The government set up the scheme as a political act to 'show support' for Ukraine against Russia. There was no assessment of how big a risk the individuals concerned were actually; it was all about publicity.
They had no plans for what would happen after 6 months. They just threw the burden onto local authorities ultimately.
It was a massive gimmick.

Meanwhile refugees from Syria and Afghanistan are treated like sub-humans because there's no political capital to be made in alleviating their very substantial suffering.

Why should the local council offer extra help? Do they get extra funding from central government for Ukrainian refugees or something? I believe we should be building more affordable accommodation and some serious investment in taking action to getting people off the housing list and permanently housed is needed. But bringing over homeless people from other countries whilst not doing anything for our homeless situation is just wrong and puts the burden on others who are homeless. Now that local council is dealing with that Ukrainian family which inevitably takes away from people who were already here because our government don't care about either really

I totally agree and it has been happening for years'

This

Totally sympathise. I have sponsored 3 Ukrainians, two of whom left after six months to live with another sponsor and one is still with us after a year. We still remain friends and meet regularly, but three in my house was just too many. There have been no problems except the one staying does nothing in the house, doesn’t clean her bathroom or bedroom and changes her bed only once every five weeks. The problem showed itself after the two left. Obviously they were doing her cleaning as well as their own. They did not get on with each other. These guests live in the far west and are here as economic migrants. The remaining guest has saved enough money by living with us and having Universal credit( including the £650 heating allowance) to go back to Ukraine to pay for an operation. That will be her third holiday home in the year she has been with us. I have told her that we are not sponsoring her when she returns this time. She is desperate to come back to UK as she doesn’t want to work in Ukraine as she says she would only earn £200 a month. We get on well, I look after her even though she is in her twenties she can’t cook so she shares our food, without financial contributions. I agree the government rushed into this without thought. I had thought I was sponsoring someone who was in a terrible war zone but manyUkrainians are going back and forwards making a mockery of why we allowed this to happen. I know I probably should be telling her to clean and ask for contributions but I did not at the beginning so it is difficult now. I will not sponsor again as feel there is no need. For those thinking of sponsoring lay down ground rules otherwise it can lead to resentment. I know this is of my own making but I really wanted to help, having daughters near the same age.

One Ukrainian is different to 3, I can't help but feel.
Also, yours could be proactive and not expect everything for nothing like the OP's. Sorry, but it's a pointless comparison.

JMSA
That post was written in November. I now have four. 2 friends of my original guest and her younger 15 yr old brother.

I still feel the exact same.

I think you hit the nail in the head .I think many Ukrainians here are economic migrants and not actual refugees as their areas are safe and as you say they prove this by going back and forth ( not all I should clarify ) . Personally I would prefer to make a effort for refugees coming from other war zones or poorer countries like Syria, Eritrea etc , but guess what they are nit white so we are nit given a chance to help them .