Homestay Visits

Why do we need to visit you?

Home visits are an important part of the application process. You may still have many questions to ask at this stage so it’s the perfect opportunity for us to answer them. There are a few things that need to be considered when deciding your suitability to become a host with us:

• Your motivations for wanting to become a homestay host
• The number of people living in your home in relation to the size of the accommodation
• The distance between your home and the student’s school
• The neighbourhood in terms of safety, access to transport and local amenities

When we visit we may take photographs of the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living/communal room(s). These photographs will be used by our team when matching students with hosts. We build a Host Profile with a description and photographs of the accommodation so that students have a clear idea of what to expect when they arrive.
You can see an example of one of our Host Profiles here.

Rest assured we will never publish photos of your home on any website or promotional material without first asking your permission. Your personal information will not be given to any third parties.

During the visit we will conduct a Fire Risk Assessment of your home – it’s highly unlikely that you have carried out one of these before if you’re new to hosting students, so we will help you to complete this.
You can find out more about Fire Risk Assessment here.

We will also ask to see and take a copy of your most recent Gas Safety Certificate, issued within the last 12 months. If you do not already have one, we can help you to get that too.

We aim to provide you with all the information you need to help you decide whether becoming a homestay host is right for you.

After the visit, you will be sent a confirmation email letting you know whether you have been accepted as a host with Warm Welcome Homestays. Once the application is accepted we then need to complete registration. In order to do this we need:

• An Enhanced DBS Certificate which we can help you to apply for if you don't already have one
• A signed self-declaration of suitability to work with under 18's and vulnerable adults, along with 2 character references supporting your declaration
• A signed confirmation that Warm Welcome Homestays’ Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults Child Protection policy has been read andunderstood (this is included in the Safeguarding self-declaration form)
• A reminder of any information not yet received such as written Host Profile and photographs, completed Fire Risk Assessment and a copy of your Gas Safety Certificate, issued within the last 12 months

When all the necessary paperwork has been received, we will be delighted to start placing students with you. Please bear in mind though that even if you are accepted as a host/host family, we may not be able to place students with you straightaway. This could be due to one of the following factors: