More than 2,000 Ukrainians who fled the war in their home country are still living in temporary accommodation provided by the Scottish Government – with the vast majority of them likely to be in hotel rooms.

Figures released by the government show there are a total of 1,130 “welcome accommodation” rooms currently in use in Scotland - a 20 per cent reduction from around 1,420 rooms occupied in December and a decrease of just over 70 per cent from the peak of 3,810 rooms and cabins in November 2022.

The data assumes an average of 1.9 people per room in welcome accommodation – meaning an estimated 2,147 Ukrainians who left after Russia launched its invasion more than two years ago, are still living in temporary accommodation in Scotland.

Millions of Ukrainians fled to other countries after the Russian invasion in February 2022.

The Scottish Government’s Super Sponsor scheme, which allowed Ukrainians to name the government as their sponsor for a UK Government Homes for Ukraine visa, rather than find an individual host, meant authorities were responsible for finding accommodation for the new arrivals.

However, the scheme was paused in July 2022 to allow officials to catch up on a backlog of rehousing – and was never restarted.

Under the scheme, Ukrainians living in accommodation such as a hotel room – or previously, two cruise ships utilised for refugees and docked in Edinburgh and Glasgow which were decommissioned last year – should have been matched with volunteer hosts or helped to find private accommodation.

Almost 27,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Scotland since the Homes for Ukraine visa was launched, according to the latest Home Office data. However, some of them may have since left for another country, or to return to Ukraine.

The report said: “Should a displaced person from Ukraine require welcome accommodation, it is, in the majority of cases, allocated via the core welcome hub in Edinburgh. When in welcome accommodation, matching discussions will take place to secure an offer of matched accommodation.”

Last year, The Scotsman revealed Edinburgh Council had advised one Homes for Ukraine host who could no longer accommodate a refugee family to make her guests homeless and send them back to the Welcome Hub at the airport to expedite the procedure to find new housing.

More than 2,000 Ukrainians still living in Scottish Government-provided temporary accommodation

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