Basic accommodation needs: Homes for Ukraine
How to meet the accommodation needs of guests, including information about gas safety and information about bills and paying rent.
All accommodation will be different and while there is no set expectation, your accommodation needs to be free from all health and safety hazards.
You should make sure your home is safe for your guests and that it is in a suitable condition.
Your accommodation should:
- be kept clean and in a reasonable state
- have adequate kitchen and bathroom space
- have access to drinking water
- have a working smoke detector on each floor of the property and other fire safety precautions suitable for the building, for example fire doors or escape routes as appropriate (read more about making a home safe from fire)
- have a working carbon monoxide alarm in any room containing a solid fuel burning appliance (for example, a coal fire or wood burning stove)
- have sufficient heating to keep the property at a comfortable temperature
- have safe gas appliances and fittings and flues.
- you should make appropriate checks. A Gas Safety Certificate is not mandatory though you might need one if you have cause for concern. A Gas Safe Registered engineer can do this for you (find one at Find an engineer). This safety check should have been made within the last year
- have safe and working electrics, which a qualified electrician can help with if you are unsure
- be almost entirely free of damp or mould
- have doors and windows at entry level that lock properly
- be easy and safe to move around in, without excessively steep staircases that may cause harm
How many people you can accommodate
You should consider how many people you can accommodate so they have sufficient space. The law states that two people should not share one room unless they are:
- adult cohabiting partners
- a parent and child
- two siblings of the same gender if aged over 10
- two siblings regardless of gender if aged under 10
People who don’t know each other should not be given the same room.
If you try to sponsor more people than you can accommodate, this will delay your guests’ visa application and could affect if they get a visa or not.
Accommodation in your own home and self-contained accommodation
If your guests are staying in your home or in self-contained accommodation, you should write an agreement that helps to set some rules.
This helps to set expectations about how you will live in the same space, or how your guests will live in your separate accommodation. This can include things like:
- smoking or drinking
- noise
- shared spaces
You could also use a more formal type of model agreement. There are two:
- Excluded Licence Agreement
- Excluded Tenancy Agreement
Excluded licence agreement
If your guests are sharing accommodation with you, for example using guest bedrooms and sharing a kitchen with you, the Excluded Licence Agreement is most suitable.
Excluded tenancy agreement
If your guests are living in self-contained accommodation (such as a holiday let) then the Excluded Tenancy Agreement is most suitable.
There is guidance on sharing your home with a lodger. It is written for those living in rented homes, but it also covers many of the points that any sponsor will want to think about.
Paying rent
Rent should not be charged under the sponsorship scheme. This also means that tenancy rights should not be created.
Your guest should not work in exchange for accommodation either.
Paying bills
You may ask guests to pay a reasonable and proportionate contribution (according to use) for water, gas and electricity consumed or supplied to the accommodation or to any shared facilities. With self-contained accommodation, you should agree with your guest who will pay council tax.