Information & Support for Guests

Information for Guests

What is the evaluation about?

Homes for Ukraine was introduced in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The scheme was designed to allow people from Ukraine to come to the UK and live with a sponsor or host. The UK Government wants to understand how it has worked in practice, what has worked well, and what could have been better.

This research will bring together the experiences of Ukrainian guests, hosts, local authorities, UK government, and others. The results will help inform future policy decisions and improve the design and delivery of similar schemes. The results of the evaluation will be summarised in a report which is likely to be published.

Who is Verian?

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have commissioned Verian, an independent research agency, in partnership with some individual experts, to carry out an evaluation of the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Verian is registered with the Market Research Society (MRS), which is the world's leading research association and prescribes ethical research standards which we follow. If you are concerned about the security or legitimacy of this survey, please call the MRS National Freephone on 0800 975 9596, or check their website here (www.mrs.org.uk), to verify Verian's existence as well as that the research we undertake is real.

What will the research involve?

Taking part in this research involves completing a survey about your experience of being a guest on the scheme. This includes questions about your host, your current housing situation, and what overall you think has been good or could be improved about the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

The survey takes around 15 - 20 minutes to complete.

You can take part at a time that suits you and do not have to answer any questions you do not feel comfortable answering by clicking "Prefer not to say". Please note that you can only complete the survey if you are aged 18 or over.

The survey can be completed in English, Ukrainian or Russian. You can select your preferred language by clicking on the button on the top right-hand side of the page.

If you have any difficulties completing the survey, please call or email us using the contact details in the 'Contacting us' section.

Do I get anything for taking part?

As a thank you for completing the survey, you will be emailed a £10 Love2Shop voucher within 5 working days of completing the survey. The email will come from the following email address: no-reply@meritincentives.com. If you do not receive your voucher within 5 working days, or you need any other support to claim your voucher, you can contact us using the details at the bottom of this page.

Love2Shop vouchers can be used with over 50 brands such as Argos, Waitrose and Boots. If you have any difficulties with your voucher, please contact us using the details given in the 'Contacting us' section.

Why have I been invited to take part?

You are being contacted because you have expressed interest in taking part in more research about Homes for Ukraine previously. This might have been after being contacted by the Home Office, or you may have previously taken part in an Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey related to Homes for Ukraine and agreed to be contacted again.

Please note that just because you have expressed interest before does not mean you have to participate now if you do not want to. The survey is voluntary.

We are interested in hearing your views because, as a Ukrainian national who has come to the UK under the scheme, your experiences can help us understand how the programme is working in practice, what has worked well, and what could have been better.

Will I be anonymous?

All of your answers will be confidential and used for research purposes only. No personal data will be shared with MHCLG or the Home Office (for example your name or email address). The UK government (including MHCLG and the Home Office) will not know whether you have taken part, and they will not be able to trace your answers back to you.

All reports that Verian send to MHCLG will be an overview of everybody's combined opinions and experiences, and you will not be identified personally.

Do I have to take part?

No, you do not have to take part if you do not want to, your participation is voluntary. You also have the right to skip or refuse to answer any questions, or stop the survey whenever you wish.

Choosing whether or not to take part will not affect:

• your visa or immigration status
• your access to benefits, housing or services
• your relationship with your host, local authority or any government department

If you wish to withdraw your answers after you have already completed the survey, please let the Verian team know by 21/11/26. Please note that if you get in touch after this time, Verian cannot guarantee that we will be able to remove your answers.

What will Verian do with my data?

The information that you provide will be stored securely in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Verian is conducting this research on behalf of MHCLG, who are the data controllers.

All personal data held by Verian will be deleted 12 months after the evaluation is completed.

For more detail on how we handle your data, please refer to MHCLG’s privacy policy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-for-ukraine-evaluation-privacy-notice

Will I be contacted again?

As part of the wider evaluation of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, Verian would like to invite a small number of guests to have interviews with us. This would involve having a longer conversation or discussion about your experiences with a researcher online or on the phone. We expect this would be about an hour long, and you would receive a £30 shopping voucher as a thank you for your time if you are selected to take part.

In the survey, we will ask if you would be interested in taking part in an interview. If you are interested and you are selected, we will contact you with further information. The interviews are also voluntary, and you can choose to withdraw at any time before or during the interview.

Please bear in mind that not everybody who expresses interest will be invited to be interviewed.

Contacting us

If you have any other questions about the evaluation or need additional support to take part, please contact us at:

By email: hfuevaluation@veriangroup.com

By phone: 0800 0510 884 (Open 8:30am to 6:30pm, Monday to Friday; 8:30am to 1:30pm on weekends)

If you would like to contact the Data Controller, please contact dataprotection@communities.gov.uk with 'HFU Evaluation' in the subject line.

If you want to raise a complaint about the survey, you can email Verian at uk-compliance@veriangroup.com. Please include this reference number when contacting us so we can help you: C111006222. You can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office or call them on 0303 124 1113.