The initiative of the Ministry of Development, together with Habitat for Humanity, is being implemented on the basis of Law No. 4080-IX and Cabinet of Ministers resolutions, but lawyers and the NACP warn of the risks of non-transparent selection of objects and legal conflicts regarding "ownerless" property and escheated inheritance. Journalists of UNN investigated the advantages and "pitfalls" of such a decision.
Details
The initiative will be implemented by the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development together with Habitat for Humanity. This is an international non-profit organization that provides people with affordable and safe housing and operates in over 70 countries around the world. In Europe, the organization focuses on housing reconstruction, support for internally displaced persons, and the development of social and municipal housing stock.
Legal grounds for the project's implementation were provided by the Law of Ukraine No. 4080-IX, which provides additional mechanisms for providing IDPs with housing.
And the Cabinet of Ministers' by-laws detailed:
- the inspection procedure (Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 489);
- the regulations on commissions (Government Resolution No. 493);
- the framework for creating and operating the system with a launch deadline no later than October 1, 2026 (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 894).
Housing for IDPs: what the relevant ministry and fund offer to evacuated Ukrainians
The resettlement of IDPs within the project is considered in several types of objects: abandoned residential buildings on the balance sheet of communities, uninhabited dormitories, and administrative buildings that are currently not in use.
The project has two interrelated directions.
The first direction is the inventory and technical selection of vacant or long-unused objects, primarily state and communal real estate, which can actually be converted into affordable or social housing.
The second direction is the legal regularization of property that can potentially replenish the housing stock: in particular, apartments without heirs (escheated inheritance) and ownerless real estate. After such property is registered, it is planned to be entered into the accounting/system and transferred to the management of communities.
At the first stage, a pilot was planned in three regions: Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Poltava. Currently, 60-70 objects are being selected, from which 10-15 will be chosen for the preparation of detailed investment decisions – where reconstruction is technically and economically justified.
In Poltava region, 13 objects and an apartment in a residential building have already been identified where displaced persons can live after repairs and re-equipment and connection to utilities.
In parallel, a database with geographical coordinates will be formed for compatibility with the state housing IAS, the launch of which is tied to October 2026.
How real estate will be selected for conversion into housing for evacuees
First, local authorities will work on identifying and identifying real estate that can be legally and technically used for the project.
The second stage involves determining the type of such buildings. After all, depending on this, the "legal path" by which the property will be transferred for the implementation of the pilot will differ, according to the current Civil Code.
Thus, the fate of state and communal property will be decided by coordination commissions. If it is an apartment or a house without an heir, then the entire further path of the property will be determined by a court decision that recognizes (or does not recognize) it as escheated inheritance. After that, the property will be transferred to the balance sheet of the community, which will receive the right to dispose of it.
However, ownerless real estate will first need to be registered with a corresponding announcement in the media. After a year has passed since its submission, the court will be able to rule on its transfer to communal ownership.
The third stage is the actual meeting of the coordination commission, at which the sequence and terms of property inspection will be established. This will be handled by the inspection commission. It must conduct a visit, photograph the house, dormitory or apartment, draw up a corresponding act and provide its conclusion.
These documents will be reviewed by the coordination commission at the fifth stage. As a result, potential housing for IDPs will be entered into the IAS.
At the same time, buildings can be immediately recognized as suitable for human habitation, or as needing reconstruction. In the second case, it will be necessary to draw up a project, calculate the estimate, purchase all necessary materials, and carry out repairs.
How the resettlement of evacuees into state housing can take place
For IDPs, a model already in force in Ukraine for similar situations can be applied. It provides that people first submit applications. Then the commission considers them, establishes priority, and makes a positive or negative decision. After that, a use or lease agreement can be concluded with the displaced persons, and people will be able to move into the housing.
Housing project for IDPs: what the authorities say
Vice Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine - Minister of Communities and Territories Development Oleksiy Kuleba, reacting to the resonance around the topic, wrote the following in his official Telegram channel:
Our approach is simple: if there is a state or communal building in the community that is idle, it should work for people
At the same time, he emphasized that it is exclusively about empty buildings that have not been used for years. Kuleba also stressed that the initiative does not concern private housing, and there are no and cannot be decisions on seizure or any interference with private property.
People's Deputy Pavlo Frolov also explained the situation with housing for IDPs to Ukrainians on public broadcaster.
He explained that, according to estimates not only of the Ukrainian government, but also of the World Bank, the European Commission, and the UN, about 6 million Ukrainians have completely or partially lost their homes. In terms of households, this amounts to 2.5 million households.
The new initiative of the Ministry of Development is an attempt to solve the problem systematically.
The Verkhovna Rada, at the initiative of our commission, adopted a law on the creation of a register of potential housing for IDPs. It will be in the form of a map, where photos of objects will be visible, it will be visible how many people can be accommodated there, there should be information about the amount of necessary investments to bring this real estate into a suitable condition for living
He also clarified that two types of commissions will be involved in this: regional and district. They will include representatives of the public, i.e., those public organizations, volunteer organizations, and IDP councils that are created from the displaced persons themselves.
Moreover, work in this area began long ago. Currently, about three thousand objects have already been submitted for such inventory.
However, according to Frolov, there is a problem: a large proportion of state, communal, and "ownerless" housing is unsuitable for human habitation. It would be much more profitable for the state to build housing according to new standards on vacant land plots. However, communities are not in a hurry to allocate them.
Risks and "pitfalls" of the new housing project for IDPs
Despite the assurances of representatives of the relevant ministry that the risks in the new project are minimal, lawyers emphasize several controversial points at once.
The first concerns the rights of owners and heirs. Apartments that pass to the community as escheated inheritance are not finally confiscated. The community is obliged to satisfy the claims of the testator's creditors, and an heir who appears later may demand the return of the property or compensation in case of its sale. Therefore, lawyers say that the placement of IDPs in such apartments should be formalized as temporary use or lease, taking into account the risk of return.
There are also risks of manipulation during the formation of lists of objects.
The main vulnerability of property lists is the non-transparent selection of objects and possible abuses. The lack of public documents and justifications increases the risks of unlawful redistribution of property and complicates control.
In addition, even the NACP points to corruption-generating factors in the draft procedure for IDP applications: a non-transparent procedure, lack of priority, subjectivity of decisions, and legal uncertainty regarding the submission of applications and the decision-making entity. The Agency emphasizes the need for clear administrative procedures and formalized criteria as a safeguard.
Recall
The Cabinet of Ministers simplified the mechanism for providing housing to displaced persons. Organizations that provide shelter to IDPs can now rent state and communal property on preferential terms.