In Ukraine they plan to introduce a new housing system, in which, instead of the Soviet model of apartment queues, social rent, preferential mortgages, leasing and rental housing with the right to purchase will be provided. According to the new rules, payment for social housing should not exceed 30% of family income, and for the most vulnerable categories, compensation can reach 100%,  it is also planned to create a unified digital system for recording housing needs.

Elena Shulyak, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, spoke about the new rules in an interview with the press service of the Verkhovna Rada apparatus.. According to her, Ukraine is moving from a model where a person waited for years for a promised apartment, to a system in which the state offers several different mechanisms for solving the housing problem. The Housing Code, which has been in force in Ukraine for more than 40 years, was adopted back in 1983. It was he who formed the Soviet system of registering citizens for housing and the priority order for obtaining housing..

In practice, such a system could mean many years of waiting. A person could register as an apartment, but not receive real housing for years due to the limited number of apartments and complex procedures.

The new housing policy provides for a fundamentally different approach. Instead of an abstract promise of “apartments in the future,” the state plans to use concrete tools: At the same time, this does not mean that the state completely abandons the provision of free housing. Free housing is preserved for certain categories of citizens defined by law. In particular, we are talking about military personnel, rescuers, police officers and orphans.. For other citizens, the main options will be either purchasing affordable housing on preferential terms or social rent.

One of the key innovations will be social rent. Its main principle is that rent should not exceed 30% of household income. If the actual cost of rent is higher, the difference will be compensated by the state or territorial community.

For example, if a family has a low income and the calculated rent exceeds the permissible 30% of family income, part of the costs will be covered by the state. For the most vulnerable categories, the level of compensation could potentially be even 100%. In this case, the person will actually be able to use social housing without paying rent.

At the same time, the final criteria - who exactly will be entitled to maximum compensation, what the area of \u200b\u200bhousing will be and how the rent will be calculated - have yet to be clarified. Specific rules must be determined by a separate law on social housing stock and relevant decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers.

A special place in the new system is given to people affected by war. We are talking primarily about:.

These categories are provided with both direct housing compensation and priority access to individual programs. By the end of 2027, Ukraine must allocate at least 450 million euros to provide housing for people with disabilities of groups I–II who defended Ukraine, family members of fallen defenders and internally displaced persons who took part in defending the state, together with their families.

Another 600 million euros are provided for compensation for destroyed housing within the framework of the e-Renewal program. The total volume of these funds exceeds UAH 43 billion. Another important opportunity is the combination of various government programs. For example, a person can receive a housing certificate under the єVіdnovlennya program, but its amount is not enough to purchase a new apartment. In this case, the certificate can be used as a down payment, and the rest of the cost of housing can be covered using a preferential mortgage from Yosel.

For IDPs and residents of front-line territories, special lending conditions are provided - in particular, a rate of 7% per annum. In addition, the state provides additional support for down payment and monthly payments for certain categories.

The principle of avoiding double compensation applies.. That is, you cannot receive two compensations for the same damage, but different instruments can be used together if they cover different parts of the cost of housing.

Another fundamental change is the digitalization of the housing sector. It is planned to create a unified information and analytical system that will combine information about citizens, housing stock and available support programs. The law also provides for the creation of special housing operators. For social housing, such operators must be municipal non-profit organizations. Their task will be to work primarily with the most vulnerable categories of the population. For affordable housing, it is planned to attract businesses.

Despite the adoption of the new law, not all mechanisms will work simultaneously. The law defines the general architecture of housing policy, but specific parameters have yet to be prescribed. In particular, the following must be separately defined:.

A special law on social housing stock is expected to be adopted in the first quarter of 2027. In particular, housing reform is part of Ukraine’s commitments under the Ukraine Facility program.