Homes for Ukraine: How you can sign up to government scheme to take in Ukrainian refugees

Some 88,712 households had registered for the Homes for Ukraine scheme by Tuesday morning, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said, as the Prime Minister aimed to match the efforts at home with foreign action.

And due to the amount of interest, the website allowing Britons to put themselves forward had crashed within the first few minutes of going live.

As further attacks were reported in Ukraine, Foreign Office minister James Cleverly praised the British public for their efforts to support the country.

He said he was "glad the website crashed, because it is a reflection of that generosity of the British people" after households rushed to sign up for the Homes for Ukraine scheme launched on Monday.

"The irony of this is I'm actually quite proud that the system struggled," Mr Cleverly told LBC.

"We built it quickly. We could have, yes... we could have spent more time stress-testing this website and delayed it a couple of days before launching.

"But, frankly, I'm glad we moved quickly on this and we're moving quickly to ensure we're able to help the Ukrainian refugees."

He added: "I know this is a weird thing to say as a Government minister - I'm glad the website crashed, because it is a reflection of that generosity of the British people."

The scheme, launched by Communities Secretary Michael Gove, will allow Britons to host refugees for a minimum of six months in exchange for a £350 thank you payment.

But already the programme has come under criticism as currently, households need to have a named refugee in order to take part, rather than being matched with those in need by the Government.

However, Mr Cleverly said the latter process would hold up getting refugees the help they needed.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There are charities, faith groups, who are already in contact with people in Ukraine, people that need help and support.

"So, actually, rather than introduce a potentially slow and bureaucratic process, where people have already got connections - and there are a huge number of people and organisations that have already got connections with Ukrainians - rather than replicate, duplicate and slow that down, we want to be as agile and as quick as possible.

"That's why we're saying that, you know, we've got organisations which are already in contact with Ukrainians. We've now set up this site so British people can register their willingness to help and support.

"And, actually, what we're looking to do is connect those both ends of that system together and do so in a way that's quick and efficient."

In Sheffield, the city’s Lord Mayor said arms were wide open to welcome people in.

Speaking last week Lord Mayor Gail Smith said: “I just want to say how sad we all are. Here in Sheffield, we are proud to have become the first City of Sanctuary in this country and our arms are wide open.”

To find out more about the Homes for Ukraine scheme, go to https://homesforukraine.campaign.gov.uk/