A programme called ‘Houses in the Village’ is being launched for internally displaced persons: who is eligible for housing?
MP Pavlo Frolov announced the preparations for the programme. According to him, the plan is to purchase around 1,000 homes in 2026, with a maximum price of 500,000 UAH per property.
Ukraine is preparing to launch a new housing programme for internally displaced persons – “Houses in the Village”.
The essence of the programme is that local communities will be able to purchase vacant houses in rural areas and provide them to displaced persons for accommodation.
According to Pavlo Frolov, displaced persons will be able to choose their own accommodation. Once the agreement is finalised, the house will become the communal property of the local community.
How the programme will work
In 2026, the programme plans to purchase around 1,000 homes in villages.
The indicative maximum cost of a single house is 500,000 UAH. Accommodation will be provided free of charge on social tenancy terms. IDPs will pay only for utilities.
At the initial stage, there are no plans to transfer such homes into the private ownership of IDPs. At the same time, Frolov noted that the government does not rule out the possibility of introducing such a mechanism in the future.
Who will be given priority
Priority under the programme is to be given to the most vulnerable categories of displaced persons.
This includes older people, people with disabilities and families with children. A number of reports on the programme also mention veterans and people with disabilities as priority recipients of housing.
The selection of families and the search for homes are already underway in the regions.
What is important for communities
A key condition for the programme’s implementation will be not only the price of the home but also its condition.
Access to basic infrastructure is also important: healthcare, education, transport and jobs within the community.
In other words, the programme should not simply involve relocating people to empty rural homes, but should provide IDPs with real housing in communities where they can live, receive medical care, educate their children and work.
Where will the money come from
According to Frolov, the launch of the programme was made possible by an initiative regarding a housing subsidy in the state budget.
Publications about the programme state that a budget subsidy of 500 million hryvnias is earmarked for the first phase. The state will purchase housing directly using budget funds, rather than through housing vouchers, as in the “e-Recovery” programme.
How this relates to broader housing policy
The “Houses in the Village” programme is one of the tools for addressing the housing problem for IDPs.
In parallel, the government and local authorities are working on social housing rental schemes. The Ministry of Community and Territorial Development previously reported that eight local authorities had passed the first stage of assessment as part of a pilot project to create municipal social housing for rent.
These are the communities of Lviv, Zhytomyr, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Kremenchuk, Bucha, Obukhiv and Drohobych.
Separately, in March, the government allocated 7.7 billion hryvnias to fund housing programmes for internally displaced persons from temporarily occupied territories.
What IDPs need to know
The programme is currently in the preparatory phase prior to launch.
IDPs should keep an eye on announcements from local communities and relevant authorities, as it is the communities themselves that will be involved in finding and arranging housing.
Key point: at the initial stage, this does not involve transferring ownership of a property, but rather providing free accommodation on social tenancy terms with utility bills covered.
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