ALMOST 5,000 refugees invited into Britain under the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme are homeless or have faced homelessness because the scheme is breaking down, a panel of MPs warned today.

According to a report by the House of Commons public accounts committee, local authorities have reported 4,890 Ukrainian households in England being homeless or coming “close to being so.”

More than 140,000 Ukrainians came to this country through the government-funded scheme after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began two years ago tomorrow.

Many were housed by sympathetic families who sponsored them, but some became homeless when relationships broke down. 

Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier said: “As the war has continued, the challenge now is that thousands of Ukrainian households were homeless or close to it last year.

“Not only is this a huge problem but our report finds that there is no full oversight of homelessness within the scheme itself.”

She said the government “must ensure it has a plan to support those who have sought safety in the UK.”