The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering providing EUR 400 million in financing for a pilot project to build social housing in Ukraine, the press service of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) reports.
“Negotiations are currently underway to provide EUR 400 million in funding, which will consist of a grant and a loan for the construction of public housing. This should be housing in normally built-up parts of the city, with access to technical and social infrastructure,” said Grzegorz Gajda, Senior Sector Economist at the EIB, as quoted in the press release.
He noted that the housing should be built using the best European practices, in accordance with energy-efficient standards and the principle of build-back-better.
The project envisages the construction of about 6-6.5 thousand apartments. The EIB will select areas for social housing construction based on the needs of the regions and their interest in cooperation.
Along with this, the conditions for renting housing are being discussed. In particular, it is proposed to allocate social housing to employed Ukrainians with a salary not lower than the average, as well as to give local authorities the opportunity to transfer 20-30% of apartments for rent to people selected according to their own criteria, taking into account the professionals needed in the region.
According to the expert, the project also envisages finding opportunities for the social housing sector to independently finance its operations and maintenance to avoid the need for state funding for housing maintenance.
As the IER points out, at the beginning of 2022, there were only 3 thousand social apartments in Ukraine, while the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the end of the year amounted to more than 5 million people. According to the International Organization for Migration, there are about 3.6 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine as of October 2024.
