Contributions to household costs

There will always be a lucky few people who do not have to include increasing costs or spiraling bills on their list of worries. Others may not be so fortunate.

As we said before sponsors receive £350 a month, for up to 12 months, while they are sponsoring. £350 is not a huge sum here in the UK and is also per family, not per person.

Now here is where it gets confusing!

In England, Northern Ireland, Individual sponsors in Scotland, AND NOW ALL SPONSORS IN WALES this payment is intended as a ⭐️ thank you to hosts. For spending time and energy helping their guests to settle in and for navigating the paperwork and appointments needed to start a new life here in the UK. Sponsors in these areas have been told that they can ask for a ‘reasonable’ contribution towards household bills.

In Scotland still, Supersponsor Sponsors are NOT to ask for contributions for bills as the £350 payment is intended to go towards these (food is the exception) and the bills should include along with the accommodation….of course the offer to help may well be appreciated 😊

Here in the UK, we are seeing prices for everything rise very quickly: high energy bills and fuel costs, rising inflation and other price increases mean that people are being more careful with spending. We may be setting our thermostats lower or having the heating on for less time and snuggling under a blanket instead. And if it has one benefit – it’s a plus for the environment!

Utilities that are billed include but are not limited to gas, electric, water (if on a meter), oil, and internet / Wi-Fi…. (Note: council tax is not included here as it does not increase due to sponsoring).

But what you may ask is a reasonable contribution?

There are probably two ways to work this out that would seem fair…

🌻 Work out how much energy *usage* has increased from the same time last year (not the same as how much the bill has gone up as we all know unit-for-unit energy is much more expensive now). It would seem reasonable to ask for a contribution towards the cost of this increase at today’s market prices.

🌻 Split the current bill between the current occupants of the house. It’s probably fair not to include the standing charge in this as that would have to be paid regardless.

There should obviously be some flexibility within this, taking into account income and outgoings, ages of occupants, maybe even time spent in the house, etc but it gives a good starting point for a discussion.

It is in everyone’s interests to keep things as fair as possible as misunderstandings over this can only cause unnecessary stress and tension.

Below are some links that may help:

https://www.rapidtables.com/…/energy-consumption…

https://www.gov.uk/…/sources-of-support-for-sponsors…

https://www.gov.scot/…/ukraine-super…/pages/host-role/

https://gov.wales/homes-ukraine-guidance-hosts-and-sponsors

https://gov.wales/get-help-cost-living

https://gov.wales/wales-winter-fuel-support-scheme-2022-2023