Survey of Homelessness Presentations by Ukrainian Arrivals

Background

This report presents the findings of a Local Government Association (LGA) survey of councils to obtain a snapshot of the number of new Ukrainian households presenting to homelessness services. Data from this survey has been combined with data from an equivalent survey of London boroughs conducted by London Councils to provide an overall picture of the situation.

On 23 March 2022, the LGA’s Research and Information Team sent an online survey to English councils outside of London which provide homelessness services. The survey was in the field for five working days. The London Councils survey was launched on 18 March 2022 and was in the field for six working days. The combined number of councils responding to the surveys was 194 – a response rate of 63 per cent.

Key findings

• A large majority (70 per cent) of responding councils reported zero homelessness approaches from households of Ukrainian new arrivals between 24 February and the time of completing the survey. A large majority of totals above zero were figures of less than five.
• The respondents reported a total of 144 homelessness approaches by households of Ukrainian new arrivals since 24 February. This includes 44 approaches from households under the Ukraine Family Scheme (the scheme by which UK households offer accommodation to Ukrainian family members), 36 approaches under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme (the scheme by which sponsors offer homes to Ukrainian households), and 64 approaches where the scheme was not known or reported.
• The total number of homelessness applications taken by respondent councils from these approaches was 78, including 23 under the Ukraine Family Scheme, 21 under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and 34 where the scheme was unspecified.
• The total number of Ukrainian new arrival households placed in temporary accommodation by respondent councils was 62, including 16 under the Ukraine Family Scheme, 21 under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and 25 where the scheme was unspecified.
• Numbers of approaches, applications and accommodations tended to be concentrated among unitary authorities, district councils and London boroughs, and in the Greater London, East of England and South East regions.
• The figures above apply only to respondent councils, so are likely to underestimate the actual number of presentations nationwide. When respondent data was used to estimate potential levels of presentations among non-responding authorities, an overall estimate was produced of 209 homelessness approaches, 101 homelessness applications and 78 households placed into temporary accommodation.

To understand the number of presentations to national homelessness services by Ukrainian refugees since the start of the current crisis, the Local Government Association (LGA) conducted a survey of councils to help understand the national scale of the issue. The data from this survey was combined with the data from an equivalent survey of London boroughs conducted by London Councils to provide an overall snapshot of the situation.

On 23 March 2022, the LGA’s Research and Information Team sent an online survey to councils in England which provide homelessness services (all types of council except county councils), excluding non-LGA members and councils in London. The survey was in the field for five working days, closing on 29 March 2022. The data from this survey was combined with the London-specific data from London councils (in the field from 18 to 25 March) for a total of 194 council responses – a response rate of 63 per cent.

Table 1 and Table 2 provide a breakdown of responses by authority type and region. Whilst these results should strictly be taken as a snapshot of the views of this group of respondents, rather than representative of all councils, this level of response means that the results are likely to provide a good indication of the position of the sector more widely.

Table 1: Response rate by type of authority

Technical notes

• Where tables and figures report the base, the description refers to the group of people who were asked the question. The number provided refers to the number of respondents who answered each question. Please note that bases vary throughout the survey.
• Throughout the report percentages in figures and tables may add to more than 100 per cent due to rounding.

This section contains analysis of the full results from the survey.

Councils were asked, if possible, to provide the following quantities:

• Homelessness approaches from new Ukrainian arrivals - this is the total number of approaches to the local authority by affected Ukrainian arrival households since 24 February.
• Homelessness applications taken from new Ukrainian arrivals - this is the number of homelessness applications the local authority has taken from those approaches.
• Households accommodated in relation to new Ukrainian arrivals - this is the number of affected Ukrainian arrival households the local authority has placed into temporary accommodation.

For each quantity, councils were asked to provide the figures broken down by scheme. The breakdown options were the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and ‘Other or scheme not known’. It should be noted that the London Councils survey did not ask for a breakdown by scheme, so, for the purpose of the analysis in this report, all cases provided by London councils have been classified as ‘Other or scheme not known’.

Breakdown of respondents by frequencies provided

Of the 194 respondents, 137 (70 per cent) provided a total of zero homelessness approaches from new Ukrainian arrivals, whilst 57 (29 per cent) provided a total of one or more. For homelessness applications, 157 (80 per cent) provided a total of zero and 37 (19 per cent) provided a total of one or more. For households placed in temporary accommodation, 167 (86 per cent) provided a total of zero and 27 (14 per cent) provided a total of one or more.

Responses of one or more tended to be heavily concentrated at the lower numbers, with 26 (45 per cent of respondents reporting a total of one or more) reporting a total of one homelessness approach, 22 (59 per cent) reporting a total of one homelessness application, and 14 (52 per cent) reporting a total of one household placed into temporary accommodation.

Total quantities reported by respondents

Tables 3, 4 and 5 show the total figures provided by the respondents for homelessness approaches, homelessness applications and households accommodated respectively. It should be noted that these figures relate only to the 63 per cent of councils which responded to the surveys, thus these totals are likely to underestimate the totals across England as a whole. An attempt to estimate overall England figures is provided in the following section.

Table 3 shows that the respondents reported a total of 144 homelessness approaches from new Ukrainian arrival households between 24 February and the time of completing the survey. Of these, 44 approaches (31 per cent) were classified under the Ukraine Family Scheme, 36 approaches (25 per cent) were classified under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and 64 approaches (44 per cent) were provided as ‘Other or scheme not known’. Approaches were most prevalent among districts, London boroughs and unitary councils, and in the East of England, Greater London and South East regions.

Table 3: Respondent totals for homelessness approaches from new Ukrainian arrivals since 24 February.

Table 4 shows that the total homelessness applications from new Ukrainian arrival households was 78, consisting of 23 (29 per cent) under the Ukraine Family Scheme, 21 (27 per cent) under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and 34 (44 per cent) under ‘Other or scheme not known.’ Districts reported relatively few applications compared to their high number of approaches, with unitary authorities and London boroughs reporting the greatest volumes. As with homelessness approaches, the regions with the greatest number of homelessness applications were the East of England, Greater London and the South East.

Table 4: Respondent totals for homelessness applications taken from new Ukrainian arrivals.

Table 5 shows that respondents reported having placed a total of 62 households in temporary accommodation at the time of completing the survey. This consisted of 16 households under the Ukraine Family Scheme, 21 households under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and 25 households reported as ‘Other or scheme not known’. Households placed in temporary accommodation tended to be concentrated in unitary authorities, London boroughs, and in the East of England and Greater London regions.

Table 5: Respondent totals for households placed into temporary accommodation

Estimation of potential totals across England

As noted above, the figures provided in Tables 3, 4 and 5 are the totals from respondent councils, not necessarily the actual totals across England. Around 38 per cent of councils did not respond to the survey, meaning that the totals above are likely to significantly underestimate the true figures.

This section summarises estimated totals across England, using average values for respondent councils to estimate potential values for non-respondent councils. It should be noted that the figures in this section refer not to confirmed and definite cases but to estimates of the likely overall prevalence of cases across the country.

The methodology used for this process of estimation was as follows:

• Councils were broken down into sub-categories based on their authority type and region – for example, district councils in the East Midlands;
• Non-respondent councils were assigned the average value for their sub-category;
• For two sub-categories, the overall average for England was used instead of the sub-category average. One had a response rate of below 20 per cent within the sub-category, and the other contained an outlier council with very high reported figures. In both cases the England average was used instead because the sub-category averages were not sufficiently reliable;
• These estimated figures were added to the reported figures provided by respondent councils to result in estimated overall totals for this time period.

It should be borne in mind that this estimation process assumes that responding councils are broadly representative of non-responding councils in terms of volumes of homelessness presentations and their distribution by region and authority type.

Table 6 shows the estimated totals for homelessness approaches from new Ukrainian arrival households since 24 February. This shows that the estimation process described above results in an estimated total of 209 homelessness approaches for local authorities across England. This constitutes estimated totals of 71 approaches (34 per cent) under the Ukraine Family Scheme, 53 (25 per cent) under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and 85 (41 per cent) classified as ‘Other or scheme not known’. The same regions and authority types as in the respondent totals tended to predominate, with the notable addition of the North West.

Table 6: Estimated nationwide totals for homelessness approaches from new Ukrainian arrivals since 24 February

 Note: where the scheme breakdown does not add up precisely to the total, this is a result of rounding as the process of estimation uses average figures which are not necessarily whole numbers.

Table 7 shows the estimated totals for homelessness applications taken from new Ukrainian arrival households. This shows that if responding councils were representative of non-responding councils, an estimated 101 homelessness applications had been taken across the country at the time the survey was completed. This includes an estimated 36 applications (36 per cent) under the Ukraine Family Scheme, 22 (22 per cent) under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and 43 (43 per cent) classified as ‘Other or scheme not known’.

Table 7: Estimated nationwide totals for homelessness applications taken from new Ukrainian arrivals.

Note: where the scheme breakdown does not add up precisely to the total, this is a result of rounding as the process of estimation uses average figures which are not necessarily whole numbers.

Table 8 shows the estimated totals for households placed into temporary accommodation. This estimates a total of 78 households of Ukrainian new arrivals placed into temporary accommodation, including 25 accommodations (32 per cent) under the Ukraine Family Scheme, 22 (28 per cent) under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, and 30 (38 per cent) classified as ‘Other or scheme not known’. Please note that the slight discrepancies between these figures and the total are the result of rounding. Households accommodated tended to be concentrated among unitary authorities, London and the East of England.

Table 8: Estimated nationwide totals for households placed into temporary accommodation

Note: where the scheme breakdown does not add up precisely to the total, this is a result of rounding as the process of estimation uses average figures which are not necessarily whole numbers.

Please amend the details we have on record if necessary.

  

If you are responsible for more than one authority, you should have received multiple links to this survey, one for each authority. Please complete each one individually; each link can only be completed once. If you have not received some of the links you require, please contact [email protected].

13. Name  (1) ________________________________________________
14. Authority  (2) ________________________________________________
15. Job title  (3) ________________________________________________
16. Email address  (4) ________________________________________________

Please indicate below which, if any, of these figures you are able to provide. Please note that zero is still a valid figure; please only leave a box unticked if you do not know the answer for your council.

17. Homelessness approaches  (1)
18. Homelessness applications taken  (2)
19. Households accommodated  (3)

Between 24 February 2022 and the present time, how many homelessness approaches has your council received from, or on behalf of, new arrivals from Ukraine?



This is the total number of approaches to your local authority by affected Ukrainian arrival households since 24th February.



Please provide the number of approaches, broken down by scheme. This will automatically produce a total figure. Please count households rather than individual people.



If your council has not received any homelessness approaches from Ukrainian arrivals in this period, please leave the figures at '0' below.



Please provide numeric characters only.



The 'present time' refers to the time at which you are completing this survey, or the time of the latest available intelligence before that point.

 

Ukraine Family Scheme : _______  (1)

Homes for Ukraine Scheme : _______  (2)

Other or scheme not known : _______  (3)

Total : ________

Between 24 February 2022 and the present time, how many homelessness applications has your council taken in relation to new arrivals from Ukraine?



Homelessness applications taken  - this is the number of homelessness applications you have taken from those approaches you have received.



Please provide the number of applications, broken down by scheme. This will automatically produce a total figure. Please count households rather than individual people.



If your council has not taken any homelessness applications from Ukrainian arrivals in this period, please leave the figures at '0' below.



Please provide numeric characters only.



The 'present time' refers to the time at which you are completing this survey, or the time of the latest available intelligence before that point.

 

Ukraine Family Scheme : _______  (1)

Homes for Ukraine Scheme : _______  (2)

Other or scheme not known : _______  (3)

Total : ________

Between 24 February 2022 and the present time, how many households has your council accommodated which consist completely or partially of new arrivals from Ukraine?



Households accommodated  - this is the number of affected Ukrainian arrival households you have placed into temporary accommodation.



Please provide the number of households accommodated, broken down by scheme. This will automatically produce a total figure. Please count households rather than individual people.



If your council has not accommodated any households of Ukrainian arrivals in this period, please leave the figures at '0' below.



Please provide numeric characters only.

The 'present time' refers to the time at which you are completing this survey, or the time of the latest available intelligence before that point.

 

Ukraine Family Scheme : _______  (1)

Homes for Ukraine Scheme : _______  (2)

Other or scheme not known : _______  (3)

Total : ________

Please provide any other comments on this topic below, including any anonymized examples of specific cases and any cost impact data.

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Please indicate below whether you are happy for your response to be shared with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and the Home Office.





Your response will only be shared for the purpose of this work. If you do not wish to give consent for your data to be shared, feel free to leave the box unticked.

17. Yes, I am happy for my response to be shared with DLUHC and the Home Office  (1)

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