Guest perspectives

Living your life in someone else’s home: the research with ‘guests’[i]

Living your life in someone else’s home is the second part of the research project on hospitality. It looks at the experiences of people from Ukraine who participated in the Ukrainian Sponsorship Scheme Homes for Ukraine’ (HfU), how it was for them to be ‘guests.’

The study was designed and implemented by Migration Yorkshire (MY). Between August and October 2023 we conducted 13 one-to-one in-depth interviews with Ukrainians who live in nine local authorities across Yorkshire and Humber region (Barnsley, Bradford, Hull, Leeds, North Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Sheffield, Wakefield, York). The participants were asked about their experience of finding hosts, their arrival in the UK and first impressions of the hosts' home and area as well as experience of living with hosts. Qualitative analysis and coding of interviews were undertaken.

Additionally, the participants were asked to draw how they experienced hospitality in hosts’ homes. Some of these drawings with short descriptions and quotations are presented in the text.

We have identifed two main components of successful co-living of ‘guests’ and ‘hosts’, namely communication and space.

Before the start of the war, Vira lived in Lviv (western Ukraine) and studied law at the university. The decision to take part in the programme was spontaneous for Vira since she did not know English. A young woman went to the UK with her mother and a friend, and settled in the house of a married couple with Ukrainian roots. The hosts became like grandparents for Vira: kind, caring and always ready to help, and their home became a cosy and comfortable place.

An important point in understanding the research findings is to establish the historical context; plans and motives that prompted respondents to take part in the HfU; as well as establishing their certain characteristics, including demographic ones.

The programme opened for applications on March 18, 2022, three weeks after the start of the war. At that moment, the situation in Ukraine was heating up: cities were regularly bombed, Ukrainian territories were captured, and entire settlements in the capital’s agglomeration were destroyed. People were under great stress, many experienced occupation, emergency evacuation under bombs, changed several places of residence both in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries, and had experience of living in overcrowded refugee camps. Only women and children under 18 were allowed to leave the country. As a result, it was common for women to take children, pets, minimal possessions and money out of the country, leaving their husbands and often elderly parents (many of whom refused to move anywhere) in the war zone.

The participants of our research project were mainly women (10 out of 13). There were three men: two of them were labour migrants who already lived outside Ukraine at the start of the war, and one man was a minor at the time of leaving Ukraine. More than half of the respondents had children (8 out of 13).

The participants primarily learned about the programme in the first months after its opening (March–July 2022), which coincided with the first months of the outbreak of the war. At that time, the general opinion amongst Ukrainians was that the war in Ukraine would end quickly: in a couple of weeks, months, or at most before the new year. Therefore, Ukrainians did not seek permanent residency in the UK.

During that time decisions had to be made quickly. However, only three respondents of our research decided to participate in the HfU scheme spontaneously: their friends heard of the programme and suggested going together to the UK. For the majority of respondents (10 out of 13), participation in the programme was planned. At the time of application to the HfU, most respondents (11 out of 13) were outside Ukraine: almost half of them were in Poland, one each in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, and Cyprus. The participants decided to move to another country when they faced some difficulties, such as lack of language proficiency, loss of work or housing, difficulties with children’s adaptation, personal issues.  

The choice of country took place mainly on linguistic and geographical grounds. The majority of the respondents (9 out of 13) reported that they chose the UK as an English-speaking country. The UK was also attractive due to its location, given its relative proximity to Ukraine compared to Canada or the USA and, accordingly, cheaper air tickets to the UK than to North America.

Half of respondents selected hosts due to particular characteristics they demonstrated: this was reported by 6 out of 13 participants (two men and four women). Basically, the selection criteria were:

• the host’s place of residence, depending on the guest’s preferences: for some a village was suitable, for others a small town or a city with developed infrastructure.
• the presence of children of the hosts of the same age or gender as the children of the guests.
• the opportunity to find a job or place of study.
• the same age group with hosts.
• common interests.

However, in this study we did not find any significant association between the host selection process and future successful cohabitation with hosts.

The majority of respondents (10 out of 13) are in the age group of 29-66 years old and are accomplished people who are accustomed to living in Ukraine in their own housing at an average or above average income level. Only two respondents are young people living with their parents.

More than half of respondents (7 of 13) reported participating in the programme for six months or less; four respondents – a year or more (of which three are still participants in the programme including two people who are still living with their hosts for more than a year). The majority of respondents left the programme and started living independently: nine people have been renting a house; one person has been living in social housing.

The research participants live in nine local authorities (out of 15) in the Yorkshire and Humber region, six of them live in large cities (two each in Leeds, Sheffield, Hull), one participant lives in a village. Mostly the respondents shared space with their hosts (11 out of 13), however two respondents lived in a separate house.

Victoria was born in Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine. Before the start of the war in February 2022, she worked in Kyiv in the fashion industry. At the time of the opening of the Homes for Ukraine program, Victoria was in Israel, but could no longer stay there for personal reasons. She searched for hosts for a long time. Finally, her friend, who was already in Sheffield, found through some acquaintances a married couple ready to accept Victoria. The hosts decorated a room for Victoria with a yellow and blue bouquet of sunflowers - the national flowers of Ukraine.