Lost home: state assistance to IDPs in search of housing and its realities

Having left their homes because of the war, Ukrainians faced new difficulties: where to find safe and affordable housing in conditions of limited resources and constant instability? For millions of internally displaced people in Ukraine, this pain has become a reality, forcing them to seek new shelters in conditions where their own homes have been reduced to ruins or inaccessible due to hostilities. Searching for a new home for many of them has become a long and exhausting process that often does not end successfully. And although the state is trying to create support programs, provide temporary housing and compensation, the real picture is much more complicated. Many displaced people remain in search of a roof over their heads, facing red tape, a lack of affordable housing and insufficient government assistance. How does the state help internally displaced persons find a new shelter? To what extent are the settlers themselves aware of the existence of such programs? Let’s try to find answers to these questions.
How it all began
Since the beginning of the war, another stratum has appeared in society – internally displaced persons (IDPs). In a past life, parents’ houses or apartments, purchased with their own accumulated money, remained. Due to constant attacks in the territories where hostilities are taking place, probably not even a brick is left, and in the memory of these people, their homes will remain standing forever. IDPs differ from people who go to other cities in search of a better fate in that they have nowhere to return. All that remains is to start from scratch – adapt to new circumstances, get a job, make new connections and, most importantly, find a roof over your head.
Even at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, the “Shelter” program was launched, according to which it was envisaged to provide compensation for expenses to private households that sheltered internally displaced persons from territories where hostilities are taking place or temporarily occupied settlements.
This program was a joint initiative of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine and the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, which made it possible to provide housing for about a million people. In turn, a certain security cushion in the amount of UAH 450 for each housed IDP was received by people who were ready to accept displaced persons.
The program expires on September 1, 2024, which means that thousands of displaced people will be forced to look for a new place to live. And in the current situation, when people suffer from unemployment and save on everything, it is not easy to find funds to rent housing in conditions of constantly increasing prices.
Yes, for data Ministry of Social Policy, housing prices by region of Ukraine were distributed as follows:
- in Transcarpathia – UAH 17,000 for a one-room apartment;
- in Kyiv – up to UAH 8.4 thousand for a one-room apartment;
- in Mykolaiv and Mykolaiv region – no higher than UAH 4.5 thousand for a one-room apartment;
- Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Kherson regions – from UAH 2.8 thousand to UAH 4.4 thousand for a one-room apartment.
Therefore, people who are already in difficult living conditions will again find themselves in a situation of instability and uncertainty of their position.
What the state offers
Currently, for data According to the International Organization for Migration, there are 3,548,000 internally displaced persons in Ukraine. 4,734,000 of them returned to their homes. The largest concentration of IDPs is in Dnipropetrovsk (14%) and Kharkiv (12%) regions. 31% of displaced people plan to return to their homes. 60% are going to return home no earlier than the end of the war. 57% of IDPs intend to settle in a new place, and 3% plan to move to another place.
Today, the question of how the state helps internally displaced persons to find a new shelter is a pressing issue. The government promises numerous support programs for displaced people: mobile towns, dormitories, new apartments, subsidies for the purchase of housing, soft loans at 3% per annum. But are all these promises fulfilled in practice?
After the escalation of hostilities in the territory of the Kharkiv region in May 2024, the main flow of IDPs was placed in dormitories. People living in dangerous areas were evacuated to the city of Kharkiv every day. The number of people is increasing day by day, and living conditions leave much to be desired: cramped, stuffy rooms designed for 3-4 people, uncomfortable beds, toilets unsuitable for the elderly and disabled, lack of working showers.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the state announced the Fast Recovery Plan program, according to which 53,000 apartments were to be built for the displaced. After some time, the number of apartments decreased to 32 thousand – 2 thousand in 16 regions. These were supposed to be inexpensive five-story apartments. It has been 2 years since the announcement of the program, and the construction dates have still not been specified.
The government promises to start an experimental project of providing IDPs with housing rental subsidies from September. It will be provided by way of compensating the landlord for the cost (or part of the cost) of renting housing rented by the IDP.
The following will have the right to receive a subsidy:
- persons who have moved from temporarily occupied or areas of hostilities;
- persons who do not have their own housing;
- persons who do not receive housing allowance in the amount of 2-3 thousand hryvnias.
The size of the subsidy will depend on the number of family members, the price of rent in the region and the ability to pay the rent.
“It is important that the provision of compensation will be possible only under the condition of signing a lease agreement between the lessee and the lessor. A standard lease agreement will be available for signing directly at the Pension Fund branch or in a personal electronic account on the PFU website “, Pavlo Frolov, the head of the TSC of the Verkhovna Rada for the protection of the rights of IDPs and other persons, explains.
The start of this project is planned to start from September 1, 2024. Since the project is experimental, it will be possible to attract only up to 50,000 displaced persons to provide compensation for housing rent.
The state also involves the local or regional authorities in solving the problem of housing for IDPs, which must decide whether to search for ready-made houses, repair and rebuild unfinished buildings, or build new buildings.
The State Youth Credit Fund is also engaged in the purchase of apartments for IDPs.
“The state, in the person of our fund, buys housing from individuals and builders, with subsequent transfer to rent to displaced persons whose housing has been destroyed. On very favorable terms – one hryvnia per year. Those who will live in these apartments are required to pay utility bills”, – explains Volodymyr Bratushka, director of the Sumy regional administration “State Housing”.
Families conclude a contract for one year with the possibility of extending it if necessary. If such a need does not arise, the apartment is vacated and the state can rent it out to other persons who need it.
A new project from the Credit Institution for Reconstruction (KfW) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) envisages the construction and reconstruction of 43 objects with 2 thousand apartments. Such facilities are designed for 6,000 IDPs and will be located in Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Lviv, and Chernivtsi regions.
Another project from the above-mentioned organizations is aimed at preparing 220 apartments for 625 IDPs in Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Kharkiv and Khmelnytskyi regions.
The third project, implemented jointly with State Youth Housing, is focused on preferential mortgage lending to IDPs at the expense of a German grant through KfW. The program is aimed at providing more than 2.5 thousand IDPs with 1,094 apartments throughout the government-controlled territory of Ukraine. Under the terms of this program, IDPs can get housing at the lowest rate in Ukraine of 3% per annum for a period of up to 30 years, with an initial payment of 6% of the cost of housing.
These initiatives are designed to provide more than 9,000 IDPs with about 3,300 apartments.
Is housing really affordable for IDPs?
As you can see, the state offers many initiatives and projects. But all of them need to find serious funding and still remain only initiatives on paper. While people need a roof over their head immediately. The declared amounts of aid often do not correspond to real needs. The amount of housing allocated for IDPs is insufficient, and the process of obtaining it is delayed for months or even years. Many people are faced with difficulties when completing documents and imperfect work of electronic services. And in some cases, the distribution of housing is even accompanied by corruption schemes. And as it turns out in practice, housing is not given to those who really need it, but to those who have the opportunity to “solve the issue for a reward”.
If in some regions the management takes the initiative and actively cooperates with volunteers and international organizations, then in small towns and rural areas complete inaction on the part of the management is demonstrated. As a result, the amount of housing offered does not cover the need for it, and living conditions are far from acceptable.
The topic of housing remains the most acute problem for the vulnerable population group called IDPs. Unfortunately, to date, there is no fully functioning program in the country that would systematically solve the problem of providing shelter for IDPs and take into account the needs and capabilities of everyone. Providing only a few dozen families of IDPs with housing for a short period of time does not increase people’s confidence in getting their own home for the rest of their lives.
If the authorities do not focus on urgently solving the housing problem of IDPs and revise their approaches, this may lead to a social crisis. People who have lost their homes are simply on the verge of survival.
A lost home should not be the cause of a lost life. Decisive actions on the way to the creation of new housing programs and their implementation in practice, and not only in the project, reduction of bureaucratic obstacles and implementation of strict control over the transparency of housing distribution processes should be priority tasks for the state. The government should create conditions under which everyone who lost their home or apartment due to the war had the opportunity to get the necessary help, and not be left alone with their problems.