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?

Thank you, I will phone them first thing in the morning.

Forget the crazy Scotland plan.

If you can no longer cope, call your local council and tell them you are no longer hosting them from whatever date.

The Ukrainian scheme co-ordinator at the council will find temporary accommodation for them.

Agree with PP's that you should just present them to your own local authority.

Alternatively, rents in parts of West Lothian are pretty affordable if you want to help them look for something. Just advise the closer you get to Edinburgh the more expensive it will become!

FWIW I think what you've been doing is so commendable and don't think you've been naive - it's been a journey into the unknown! Ultimately, you've done your bit and shouldn't feel the need to bear the burden any longer than originally planned.

@Cw112 each council 'looks after their own' so to speak, when it comes to emergency housing - unless there is a specific reason defined in law (eg needing to flee DV and moving out of area for safety)
If people could pick the areas they want temporary accommodation in, I'm pretty sure central London, Oxford, St Ives etc would be somewhat disproportionately affected by applicant numbers!

There is a massive cultural difference between former communist countries and the western type of logic. This was many years ago but I shared a house with some citizens from former USSR.

There is an element of them expecting things to be handed to them. I couldn't quite get over the sense of entitlement. They exploited everything here and then saved up money to move home!

If they want to stay safe, they've got jobs in Scotland - there are three of them earning. Rent! Jesus. 3 incomes and they won't rent? It's not as if they can't afford it.

Sometimes people annoy me, so apologies if I come across harsh. But this sympathy shit needs to end now. It's not sustainable. OP, you've done everything you possibly could with a generous spirit and kindness. Freeloaders exist!

It's not as if you're throwing them out into the moors with no money or jobs. They just to find their own fucking place to rent now. I'll stop now before I get too annoyed.

@1forthemoney2fortheroad
I have a friend who hosted some years ago for a Ukrainian charity.
She was surprised at how “Grabby” the visitors were’
Massive cultural differences.

Genuine question to those who think OP has been naive and isn't a suitable host. How long should she house them for? If they're working and earning a decent wage but don't want to rent should she house them indefinately?

I work in the homeless/ community sector, you can absolutely pick where you want to live temporarily as it's a private tenancy on agreement with the housing executive that you're taking the tenancy on temporarily, the tricky bit is finding a landlord that will agree to a rolling monthly lease. It helps the local authority by freeing up their emergency housing stock so in NI at least they are willing to work with people where they can. This is also helpful if there's a child as family hostel spaces are limited and the three adults would likely be separated. If they are made homeless and OP puts it in writing that they can no longer live with her then they are homeless and the local authority is responsible especially since there's a child involved in whichever area they present to. They just need to do that first to get points and registered as homeless before taking on a temporary tenancy.

There is a cultural difference in the sense that former communist countries saw housing as a basic right, and modest accommodation was provided to everyone at low/controlled rents.

I think that's something we should see as a positive, not to be dismissive of. But I can imagine how frightening it must be to be required to live somewhere where getting accommodation is so hard to start with (eg the competition, paperwork, upfront costs) as well as the language barrier and the rents being so much higher than what you are used to paying.

I'm not saying this is the OPs responsibility but the comments in here about spongers wanting a free ride is vile. How easy do you think any of you would cope if you had to love in Ukraine? Reckon you'd be confident enough in Ukrainian/Russian to deal with official forms and local bureaucracy within six months?

Can all the people saying 'just take them to Scotland anyway' just stop for a moment and bear in mind that if the OP does this, it's highly likely that when they present at the local Housing Office, they'll simply be told to go straight back to whichever English local authority area they have just arrived from?

Unless there are children with them, and they have previously had an address in the area, the LA really will not just hand them a roof over their heads.

There's 3 adults bringing a wage in living rent free with you. Surely they have enough money to scrape together a deposit and the first months rent in Scotland. I'm sure they didn't live rent free in the Ukraine.

I’d probably move back to England.
In Ukraine/ Russia
Kruschovskis are dirt cheap, and heating is cheap too.

This group of three adults just don’t want to pay rent by the sound of it-
Why should they live scot free at other’s expense?
I’m sure Ukrainians would get equally as jaded with U.K. people not wanting to pay their way.

No, I think she should be doing everything she sensibly can to get them out of her house.

I just think the rhetoric of magnanimous 'charity,' coupled with hints that they should have learned English already, and shouldn't dare to be worried about money, is nasty.

Its not really their fault that the OP offered up her home with presumably no end date set out or a way of ending the agreement, which was incredibly naive. However, just because someone is in need doesn't mean they won't be grabby. Also, what would they do if the OP became ill or became a carer or had to end the agreement for many other reasons that can happen in life, what happens to them then? Has no-one in government though this through? Oh wait, that's not surprising. In the OP's position I would tell the refugees I need to take in lodgers because of the cost of living crisis and give them a month to leave.

@Cw112 what area do you work? In most of the UK you can of course take a tenancy somewhere else, but not local authority controlled emergency accommodation. Their accommodation (which in some cases includes using private landlords who can let properties to the council on a licence basis) is in such high demand that no LA would go beyond their statutory duty to house people they didn't have to.
The only exception in E&W I know of are dodgy HMO private hostels that exist in some cities, but they are absolutely awful. In previous jobs I knew a lot of rough sleepers who would pick sleeping in a car park over the hostels.

Drop them at your local council. They may be willing to provide TA out of borough and somewhere work is more readily available

You need to speak to your sponsor liaison officer and tell them you are stopping hosting and give a date. If they don’t have housing by that date the council will put them in temp accommodation (prob all of them in 1 room of a B&B).

The OP has found all three of them jobs at £10/hour! Maybe a silver platter might sweeten the deal? 6 months of accommodation, housing all 4 together, driving them around, interpreting and handling all the bureaucracy is enough of a service.
It's just a different mindset. When in Rome, do as the Romans do... Do they think the UK has a magic goose that lays golden eggs or something?
They're being grabby. Drop them to Scotland (charge them for the petrol money). They'll find a way to rent.

if your guests present in Edinburgh, nearest city to Livingstone, they will be housed in a hotel or on the boat

@razzbo
How desperate are you to be free of them, OP?
Could you afford to set up a private rental for them, with the deposit and 1 month's rent? After this they shouldn't be a problem, I hope. I know it will be a pain forking out for guests who have outstayed their welcome, but what peice peace of mind? You have already been very kind.

Exactly this, though personally I'd point them in the direction of my own local council

If they don't want the responsibility they can pay for the family to travel to Scotland themselves, where all three would be working and able to afford their own accommodation (whether they want to or not)

They have jobs to go to in Scotland! They just refuse to pay rent!

People are making a lot of assumptions about their current financial situation.
They have jobs to go to, not current jobs.
The did have jobs here which are no longer available and the OP hasn't said what the hours or pay were and whether they would have been in any position to save enough money to set up for moving.

The Council Homelessness Team will use an interpreter. Of course they will ask them where they have been living for the last 6 months , they will have to show their documents and give your address. Everything they say will be checked with your local authority and the Home Office records.

As your guests will be earning more than £4,500 / month between them , they should be able to afford one of the 20 two bedroom properties currently available to let near Linlithgow for £800/ month or less.

Even if they were accepted as homeless in Linlithgow, the Council do not provide free housing . If they are accommodated in a Bed and breakfast (unlikely with a child ) , they will have to pay around £15/ week for heating and lighting plus about £70 / week EACH because they are working.

If they get a temporary furnished flat from the Council, they will have to pay rent and council tax, just like everyone else. You either pay yourself from your wages or you claim benefits, from which you pay.

There’s no magic money tree / place in Scotland where they can live for free.

I know several people hosting Ukranians and this is a familiar story. The six months that they signed up for is coming to an end, and their guests are showing no signs of looking for anywhere else.

It's really hard to be hospitable and at the same time have to keep saying 'what are you doing about leaving?'