Valentyna Vasyzieva fled Ukraine

THE hunt is on for “benevolent landlords” willing to charge Ukrainian refugees a fair or below-market rate as they search for permanent homes in the capital.

Many hosting arrangements – which saw local families linked up with refugees for a minimum of six months in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion – have come to an end in recent months.

According to Jenny Noé-Nordberg, co-founder of refugee support charity Families4Peace, “access to secure housing is the number one issue that our Ukrainian community faces.”

Ms Noé-Nordberg said: “Many of the hosts who sponsored Ukrainians through the Homes for Ukraine visa scheme have felt the need to act as guarantors so their guests are more attractive to independent landlords.

“Of course, not all hosts are prepared to do this nor is acting as guarantor a guarantee in itself that a landlord will take on a tenant.”

She added: “Ukrainian families who arrived via the family sponsorship scheme are even less likely to have access to a guarantor or other support for independent housing as often the family member who sponsored them does not have significant financial resources.”

Valentyna Vasyzieva, who lives near Finchley Road after moving from Kyiv in January, was able to find a home because an English family agreed to serve as her guarantor. “They said to me: ‘maybe it’s easier if we be your guarantor’. What that means is they take responsibility for my family,” Ms Vasyzieva said. “They offered that to me and I almost cried.”

Ms Vasyzieva moved to London earlier this year under the temporary “leave to remain” Ukraine scheme, which gives refugees the right to live and work in the UK for three years.

She found it difficult to find a home suitable for her family.

“When you put in Zoopla you need a two-room apartment, there are 30 options. But when you put in ‘family’, there are only three options,” she said. Many homes also ask for six months’ rent up front, Ms Vasyzieva found.

Another refugee Alyona Ontipenko, who arrived in Hampstead with her partner and daughter last April to stay with a host family, started looking for a new flat in November. “It was very difficult because we didn’t have work in the UK. I think I was looking for flats for maybe two months,” she said. “Because we are strangers in this country, landlords don’t know what kind of person you are.”

There are several ways people in Camden can help, Ms Noé-Nordberg said, on top of serving as host families.

“Families4Peace is always looking for benevolent landlords who are willing to rent to our families at fair or below-market rates,” she said.

“Many of the families we support are single mums with children in the local school system who wish to preserve what little stability they’ve been able to establish – being close to the schools, services and the community they’ve built since arriving last year.

“We would encourage Camden residents to contact Families4Peace or Camden Council should they be able to rent to or host one of our wonderful families.”