Guidance

Funding for councils: Homes for Ukraine

How government funds councils for thank you payments and tariffs. Includes two-tier and devolved administrations, education, record keeping, and reconciliation.

Since the Homes for Ukraine scheme launched in March 2022, the UK government has provided over £1.24 billion to councils through a tariff for each arrival in their area.

The government is providing funding to councils at a rate of £10,500 per person for guests who arrived before 1 January 2023 and £5,900 for guests who arrived after 1 January 2023 under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. This funding will provide support to families to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into communities. This funding will be available for arrivals on the Homes for Ukraine visa which comes into effect from 3pm on 19 February 2024, with 18 months leave to remain.

Local authorities received separate funding in 2022-23 for the Ukraine education tariff. Homes for Ukraine education and childcare funding will not continue in the 2023-24 financial year.

In June 2023, the government confirmed the allocation of £150 million UK-wide funding for local authorities and devolved administrations in financial year 2023/2024. This will ensure that Ukrainian guests can be supported to move into their own homes and reduce the risk of homelessness. This funding has been allocated between the different parts of the UK in relation to the proportion of Homes for Ukraine arrivals in each part of the UK.

In addition, a £500 million Local Authority Housing Fund, will provide capital funding directly to English councils in areas that are facing the most significant housing pressures as a result of recent Ukrainian arrivals. Councils in scope for this funding will be contacted with their provisional allocation, further guidance on the scheme and how they participate.

This fund will allow them to address the immediate pressures as well as build a sustainable stock of affordable housing for the future. This fund will also be used to provide homes for up to 500 Afghan families currently living in bridging hotels at a significant cost to taxpayers. Whilst helping to fulfil the UK’s humanitarian duties to assist those fleeing war, the fund will create a lasting legacy for UK nationals by providing a new supply of accommodation for councils with which to address local housing and homelessness pressures.

These measures will help to ensure the sustainability of the programme over the longer term and enable it to help future arrivals seek sanctuary in the UK as the war in Ukraine continues.

Thank you payments

The government is also providing funding for councils to administer the thank you payments at the £350 per sponsoring household per month rate (for a guest’s first 12 months on the Homes for Ukraine scheme) and at the £500 per sponsoring household per month rate (for the remainder of a guest’s Homes for Ukraine visa permission – up to 36 months for arrivals before the visa changes in February 2024, and up to 18 months for those arriving after the visa change) provided the guest remains in sponsorship accommodation. When calculating how long a guest has been on the scheme for, local authorities should use the point at which the guest arrived in the UK.

We allocate additional funding for these payments through a ringfenced grant, and we expect councils to cover administration costs within the tariff.

How payments to councils are made

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) makes quarterly payments to councils, in arrears. On 30 June 2022 DLUHC made the first payment to councils, to cover the months March to May. On 23 November 2022 DLUHC made the second payment to councils, to cover months June to August. On 16 March 2023, DLUHC made the third payment to councils, to cover the months September to November.

Payments are based on the actual number of Homes for Ukraine guests for the tariff and the actual number of ‘thank you’ payments to sponsoring households within each area and are adjusted to account for ratified rematches between local authorities and devolved administrations.

Reconciliation process

DLUHC conducted a reconciliation process at the end of the 2022/23 financial year to ensure that councils received their correct entitlement for both the tariff and ‘thank you’ payments.

England including two-tier councils

In England, in two tier areas, both districts and counties have access to funds for their relevant duties under the scheme. Having engaged closely with representatives from the sector to determine the most appropriate payment mechanism, funding for both the £10,500 tariff (£5,900 from 1 January 2023) and thank you payments will be provided to upper-tier councils.

However, in two-tier areas it is a condition of the funding that councils must agree a plan locally to:

  • make prompt payments to lower-tier councils in relation to all the services which they provide to guests under the scheme, during the full duration of the scheme, including for services such as homelessness assistance for which lower-tier councils are responsible
  • make an immediate payment to lower-tier councils in relation to any upfront costs

Scotland

In Scotland, councils receive the £10,500 tariff (£5,900 from 1 January 2023) and ‘thank you’ payments directly from DLUHC, except in cases where the Scottish Government are currently acting as a sponsor.

Wales

In Wales, the Welsh Government receive the £10,500 (£5,900 from 1 January 2023) tariff payments for local councils from DLUHC and distribute this funding to Welsh councils. The ‘thank you’ payments are provided directly to Welsh councils by DLUHC, except in cases where the Welsh Government are currently acting as a sponsor.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, the Executive Office receive the £10,500 tariff (£5,900 from 1 January 2023) and ‘thank you’ payments from DLUHC.

Keeping accurate records on the case management system (CMS)

We will continue to collect data relating to the programme in the CMS, through which we expect councils to upload relevant data regularly, and at a minimum, weekly.

Councils must maintain accurate records on the number of guests and sponsorship households in their area. It is critical that this data is accurately captured and reported to DLUHC to enable payments of funding to be made.

Councils must use the tariff to meet all of their associated costs (both for providing council services to guests and for administering payments), this includes any discretionary top up to the ‘thank you’ payment. We recognise, however, that a small number of councils may incur additional essential costs above and beyond what could reasonably be regarded as normal expenditure and not available through other mainstream funding mechanisms. We will therefore consider claims for such costs on an exceptional basis only.

We ask that any council who may be experiencing unmanageable pressures to contact DLUHC in the first instance.

£150 million Homes for Ukraine Homelessness Prevention Grant Top Up

In June 2023, the allocations of £150 million additional UK-wide funding to help support Ukrainian guests move into their own homes and reduce the risk of homelessness were confirmed. Funding has been allocated across the UK in relation to the proportion of Homes for Ukraine arrivals in each part of the UK.

UK-wide allocations in summary:

  • Scotland c.£30 million
  • England c.£109 million
  • Wales c.£8.2 million
  • Northern Ireland c.£2.4 million

UK-wide allocations (full details)

Within England the funding will be administered via a top up to the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) in line with the existing grant conditions. To reflect broader pressures on local authorities alongside those arising from the Ukrainian cohort, in England, 66% of the funding will be allocated using the HPG formula, on the same basis as the core HPG allocation for 2023/24. The remaining 34% will be allocated based on the Homes for Ukraine arrival numbers reported for each LA as of 4 April 2023, as the closest date to the beginning of this financial year for which arrival numbers are published.

The purpose of this specific top up is for you to maximise supporting the Ukrainian cohort into sustainable accommodation. However, local authorities are best placed to understand the support needed for local communities and can also use this funding to support Ukrainians as well as other people at risk of homelessness.

We have published the details of allocations to England’s local authorities, alongside a technical note setting out the allocation approach.

Funding for education

The government provided additional funding to councils in 2022-23 to provide education and childcare services for children from families arriving from Ukraine under this scheme.

The Department for Education (DfE) allocated funding, pro-rata on a per pupil basis for the 3 phases of education based on the following annual rates:

  • early years (ages 2 to 4): £3,000
  • primary (ages 5 to 10): £6,580
  • secondary (ages 11 to 18): £8,755

These tariffs include support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Homes for Ukraine education and childcare funding will not continue in the 2023-24 financial year. However, funding that has not been spent in 2022-23 can be carried over to the 2023-24 financial year. If funding remains unspent by 31 March 2024, the department will take action to claw back unspent money.

More information is available on education and childcare funding, including the grant terms and conditions for England.

Published 16 January 2023
Last updated 19 February 2024 + show all updates
  1. Guidance has been updated following changes to the Homes for Ukraine Immigration Rules on 19 February 2024.

  2. Updated to show that the thank you payment is now payable for up to 3 years after the guest arrives.

  3. Updated to reflect announcement of UK-wide funding for local authorities and devolved administrations for the 2023/24 financial year.

  4. First published.