Ukraine is officially launching a pilot project aimed at solving one of the most pressing problems of recent years — housing for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Under the new initiative, local communities will have the opportunity to purchase vacant private homes and transfer them to IDPs on the terms of social rental.

As reported by RBC-Ukraine citing People's Deputy Yelena Shulyak, 1 billion hryvnias have already been allocated in the state budget for 2026 to implement this large-scale program. Active work is currently underway at the local level: communities are analyzing their housing stock and compiling lists of vacant homes that can be purchased with state funds.

Strict selection: why most communities did not make it into the pilot

Despite high interest in the program, the criteria for participation turned out to be extremely strict. To be included in the project, settlements must have developed infrastructure: the presence of jobs, schools, kindergartens, medical facilities, and established transport links.

It is precisely these high requirements that caused most applicants to be unable to join the initiative at the initial stage. According to Yelena Shulyak, out of 25 communities that submitted applications, only five passed the initial selection. It is currently in these territories that the active search for residential properties and the formation of lists of families in need of support has begun.

Who gets housing and on what terms

The program is based on the principles of social rental. The key parameters for purchase and occupancy are as follows:

  • Cost limit: the maximum price for purchasing one private house cannot exceed 500,000 hryvnias.
  • Living conditions: real estate is provided to IDPs free of charge. Families are only obliged to pay for the utilities consumed themselves.
  • Priority categories: primarily, housing will be provided to the elderly, persons with disabilities, and families with children.
  • Ownership status: at the first stage of the project implementation, the houses will remain on the balance sheet of local authorities and will not be transferred to the private ownership of IDPs.

Critical load on regions

The launch of the project becomes critically important for regions that have absorbed the main flow of evacuated citizens. In particular, a significant population growth is recorded in the Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi regions. In some communities, the number of IDPs constitutes 25–30% of the total population, causing local infrastructure and service networks in some places to already struggle with the load.

Additional measures and the future of the program

At the parliamentary level, additional initiatives aimed at a comprehensive solution to the housing issue are being actively discussed. Among the key directions under consideration are the strategy for developing an accessible rental system, a large-scale expansion of social housing funds, and the legalization of the shadow rental market through the introduction of a special preferential tax burden for landlords.

Parallel to this, an innovative mechanism for booking financial funds using special housing vouchers is successfully operating in Ukraine. At the first stage, veterans and persons who received disabilities as a result of hostilities received priority access to funding. In the future, the authorities plan to scale this project, extending the voucher program to other categories of internally displaced persons.