With 150,000 Brits offering their homes to Ukrainian refugees since a new scheme was launched on Monday, the government is drawing up plans to capitalise on British hospitality by looking to resettle other refugees in people’s homes.
Priti Patel is reportedly considering asking Brits to open their homes to refugees other than Ukrainians, including those from Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria, in an effort to cut costs associated with housing them in hotels.
Currently, the scheme offers homeowners a monthly payment of £350 for a commitment to house a Ukrainian family for a minimum of six months.
It is unclear how practical this scheme would be, however, as Afghan families are typically far larger than their British and Ukrainian counterparts.
The average Ukrainian family is comprised of 2.58 people, while the average Afghan family is comprised of 6.7 people.
A second major hurdle for the Home Office is that some major insurers seem to be reluctant to cover non-Ukrainian refugees, with MoreThan and LV not including non-Ukrainians in policy updates allowing homeowners to host refugees as “non-paying guests” without imposing an insurance premium.