26 August 2022

Being inspected as a host for a Ukrainian refugee

A few weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine I registered my spare bedroom on the "homes for Ukraine" website. And then nothing happened for a long time! Until July, when I received a phone call to check if I was still willing to function as a host. And from there things sped up. A few weeks after that I received a phone call from a lady who wanted to inspect my house. The council wants to check that when people put accommodation on the site, it is really habitable, and not some windy garden shed or something. I wasn't nervous about that. My house is a lovely house!

I was starting to wonder, though, how they do the pairing up of hosts and guests. I live a slightly left of centre life. And if someone moves in with me and is not in harmony with that lifestyle, it is likely that conflict ensues. So I hope they can find me a similar spirit. Someone who doesn't mind that I don't have television, is happy to try to avoid single use plastic, doesn't mind I don't heat the house to high temperatures, et cetera et cetera.

The lady who inspected my house (and who thought it was fine) was not involved in that process; she only did the inspections. The same day she had visited me I received an invitation for an online meeting for prospective hosts. So that would be an excellent opportunity to ask about exactly that! I think the council means business. I think they intend to place someone with me in the short term. And that is exactly why I registered, of course. But it is still scary. I am not used to sharing my territory! But I will do my best. Stay tuned; the biggest change in my life for a long time might be afoot!

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