More refugees due to stay with hosts in Ceredigion, Powys and Gwynedd have arrived in the UK in the last month, figures show.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March, refugees from the war have been invited to stay in the UK under the Ukrainian Sponsorship and Family schemes.

The former sets up refugees with hosts in the UK for an initial six months, who receive support from their local council and a stipend of £350.

New figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show 95 Ukrainian refugee households due in Ceredigion – from 128 successful applications – had arrived in the UK by 4 October under the sponsorship scheme.

This was up from 89 arrivals on 6 September when 121 visas had been issued.

In Powys, these figures are 209 Ukrainian refugee households, from 269 successful applications - up from 197 arrivals on 6 September when 256 visas had been issued.

And in Gwynedd, 170 Ukrainian refugee households from 210 applications - up from 157 arrivals on 6 September when 203 visas had been issued.

The Welsh Government has further sponsored individuals directly through its ‘super-sponsor’ scheme, which has seen 4,557 visas issued to individuals without a named sponsor in Scotland, of which 2,884 had arrived by 4 October.

In June the government announced a ‘temporary operational pause’ on new applications to the scheme.

In the month to 4 October 96,800 refugees had arrived in the UK, with 136,600 visas approved under the scheme.

Some charities have expressed concern that mounting pressure on host families due to the cost-of-living crisis, and the initial six-month hosting period coming to an end, could lead to refugees becoming homeless this winter

While data has not yet been published for Wales, new figures show the number of homeless refugee households in England increased by 22 per cent to 1,915 in the month to 23 September, across both schemes.

Stan Benes, a trustee for Opora, a charity which helps Ukrainians settling in the UK, said that support from Westminster has “too often fallen short”, and that charities and other organisations have been left to fill in the gaps.

He said the cost-of-living crisis was a “factor”, but that the lead reason for hosting arrangements breaking down was “the health of the relationship between guests and hosts”, adding that many hosts did not have sufficient guidance or support when signing up to the scheme.

A spokesperson for DLUHC said: “We are grateful to the British public for opening up their communities to the people of Ukraine and the generosity they have shown.

“The majority of sponsors want to continue hosting for longer than six months. Where guests do move on they have a number of options, including to enter private rental or find a new host to sponsor them.”

“Councils have a duty to ensure families are not left without a roof over their heads,” they added.