Large-Scale Construction Program: 15 Cities in Ukraine to Receive New Social Housing.

The State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure has launched a project to create a social housing fund in Ukraine. According to the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development, it is planned to build 50,000 social apartments by 2025.

The pilot phase of the project covers 15 cities, including Bila Tserkva, Brovary, Bucha, Drohobych, Zhytomyr, Kryvyi Rih, Kropyvnytskyi, Lviv, Novovolynsk, Poltava, Rivne, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Cherkasy. At this stage, more than 6,000 apartments will be built for 16-18 thousand residents. Funding is partially provided by international partners - the European Investment Bank has allocated 400 million euros, half of which are grant funds.

The head of the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Olena Shuliak, emphasizes the necessity of creating a social housing fund in every community. According to her, communities can not only build new housing but also purchase existing ones, reconstruct unfinished buildings, and conduct major repairs of existing premises, reports Delo.ua.

Among the categories that will have the right to social housing are internally displaced persons, workers in the educational and medical fields of the relevant community, municipal enterprise workers of the community, military personnel belonging to the community, and other categories of citizens in need of support.

According to the NGO 'IDPs of Ukraine', no less than 5% of the housing stock will be allocated for elderly IDPs and persons with disabilities from combat zones, whose property has been destroyed and who receive social support for assisted living.

It is important to note that such housing will not be subject to privatization, but residents will be able to rent it at preferential rates and receive housing subsidies, including subsidies for the payment of the cost or part of the rental cost. According to the estimates of the State Agency, the total need for social housing in Ukraine is about 1 million apartments, considering that there are currently about 600,000 Ukrainians on waiting lists for apartments.

The first results of the program are already noticeable - in Lviv, the construction of the first social building on Mykolaychuk Street, designated for patients affected by the war, has been completed.