West Devon Borough Council is preparing for the worst as incidents of breakdowns in the relationships between Ukrainian refugees and their hosts rise nationally.

So far there have been no issues between sponsors and guests in the region but West Devon Borough Councillor Tony Leech, urged caution in the wake of reports about the increasing number of homeless Ukrainian refugees in the UK.

He said: ‘It’s national. It’s an issue for all councils so we can only hope that it works out for these people who have had a bad enough time of it. What we don’t want is for the relationships to break down because we have a housing crisis.’

Earlier this year, the borough declared a housing crisis as fewer homes are becoming available for long-term tenants or buyers and there are concerns that unsuccessful matches could exacerbate the crisis.

Barry Ratcliffe, lead member for housing at West Devon Borough Council, said: ‘Luckily, everyone has been placed successfully but the council does have an obligation to house them and any incident would be assessed on an individual basis.’

The council will discuss the issue in greater depth in a meeting later in the month.

A report by the Local Government Association (LGA), published in March, revealed that across the country 144 refugees had approached local councils claiming homelessness following a breakdown in their relationship with their host.

At the time of publication the South West had reported no incidents of homelessness among the Ukrainian refugees.