Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning Olena Shuliak explains in her column how the experimental project "Country House" operates and what urgent changes it requires. Half a million hryvnias, a rural house with a boiler or a stove, and three years of free residence look like the formula of the project through which the government aims to solve the housing issue for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Project Benefits and Financial Model
The program has been running for several months, demonstrating a pragmatic approach compared to stalling initiatives. The community purchases a livable house worth up to 500,000 hryvnias, transfers it to IDPs for free use, and the family pays only utility bills. Within the 1.5 billion hryvnia subvention, half a billion is specifically allocated for rural housing, enabling about a thousand homes to be provided. For frontline regions, the state covers 100% of the costs, and the 2027 draft state budget already includes a similar amount to continue the initiative.
Benefits for Communities and Demographic Recovery
The program benefits not only IDPs but also the regions themselves. The purchased property becomes communal property, and new residents provide a workforce for the agricultural sector and students for local schools that have teetered on the edge of closure for years due to depopulation. A strict social filter is applied: priority is given to large families, people with disabilities, and elderly IDPs, while owners of new cars or other compensations are filtered out.
Contradictory Data
Despite obvious advantages, there are serious discrepancies between plans and actual implementation rates. Official reports mention a thousand potential houses, but in practice, only about 50 applications have been submitted by communities. Some experts and local officials point to excessive bureaucracy in real estate purchase procedures and staffing shortages in small village councils, which slows down the utilization of allocated funds, although the government insists the pilot is successful.
