RefugeeHomeNL is an initiative of the Dutch government to offer refugees from Ukraine a safe home with host families. The Dutch Red Cross, VluchtelingenWerk Nederland, Leger der Heils (Salvation Army) and Takecarebnb are working together to organize this safe shelter.

Through RefugeeHomeNL you can stay with a Dutch family for three months. If your host family and you both want to extend your stay, it is possible to do so. You can also choose to go and stay with another family after those three months.

RefugeeHomeNL screens all host families by interviewing them. They also need to submit a Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag (Certificate of Good Conduct). This means that it is verified by the authorities that the family members have not done any criminal acts that could cause a problem for the accommodation of refugees.

Host families can only apply for hosting if they have a separate room for their guests. So you don't have to worry about sharing a room with your hostfamily. Check the RefugeeHome website to see which locations in the Netherlands have space available.

Dutch families who would like to make themselves available as host families can visit the Takecarebnb website.

When a Dutch family wants to open its doors to a refugee from Ukraine, Takecarebnb matches (screened) host families with refugees from Ukraine. Would you like to become a host family for refugees from Ukraine? Then sign up quickly via the Takecarebnb website. After applying, Takecarebnb will contact you for a telephone screening.

Have you left Ukraine due to the Russian invasion and would like to stay with a host family? Then read the piece above on RefugeeHomeNL for more information. RefugeeHomeNL can help you find a host family (screened by Takecarebnb). Takecarebnb focuses on Dutch families willing to offer themselves as host families and not refugees from Ukraine itself.

If you do not have a residential address of your own where you can register, the municipality must register you at a postal address (mailing address). This is an address where the government can reach someone without a residential address. For example, this could be the address of the municipal office. Please contact your municipality to find out what the options are.

RefugeeHomeNL pairs host families and refugees from Ukraine with each other. So you can live with a host family voluntarily and without obligation. Are you staying with a host family? Then you as a guest do not have to give any financial compensation to the host household. Host households are allowed to ask for an allowance for energy costs, for example, but you are not obliged to do so. For staying with a host family, you will receive a supplement to your living allowance. An allowance may never exceed the amount of the supplement to your living allowance. Per February 1, 2023, the supplement to your living allowance will be reduced to €93 per person.

RefugeeHomeNL emphasizes voluntariness and lack of obligation. The organization believes that guests who have to pay for their stay no longer do so without obligation. As a result, these guest households can no longer fall under the banner of RefugeeHomeNL, which means there is no longer support for living together.

Are you staying with a host family and being offered a lease so that you can have longer housing? If so, it is important to be well-informed about other options of accommodation, for example:

• A different host family;

• A municipal shelter;

• Independently renting housing (difficult).

You can take the lease, before you sign it, to a walk-in clinic or to an online consultation hour of VluchtelingenWerk Nederland. During the consultation hour, they can check whether it is a fair contract so you can make an informed decision. You can use the appointment planner on RefugeeHelp to make an appointment for an online consultation hour.

Should you not want to use those options above and sign the rental agreement, it is important that both you and your host household de-register from RefugeeHomeNL.