Demolish or repair: Ukraine plans a large-scale housing reform.

Ukraine plans to conduct a large-scale housing reform. According to the material by OBOZ.UA, the country is set to modernize its outdated housing stock, specifically by demolishing old buildings and replacing them with new ones. The bill concerning this reform was submitted before the war in December 2021 and had its first reading in September 2022. According to the memo to the bill, Ukraine has 30,380 old buildings, including even relatively new structures built from 1990 to 2010.

The leader of the "Servant of the People" party, Olena Shuliak, stated that the reform includes comprehensive reconstruction of old housing, such as the modernization of buildings, demolition and replacement with new ones, and reconstruction of the information-transport and social infrastructure located in these areas. The document also stipulates that reconstruction will be carried out wherever possible, but demolition of buildings will only be done if they are in a state of emergency and cannot be repaired.

"Our goal is to pass bill № 6458 through the second reading by the end of this year. But this will depend on how successful the adoption of the framework bill on the basic principles of housing policy will be, as they are, I repeat, interconnected," Shuliak emphasized.

After revisions, the bill will be submitted for public discussion. In the EU, the redevelopment of old residential buildings, their thermal modernization, and the construction of new floors are already being practiced. The unattractive facades of buildings are also being beautified using modern technologies. Perhaps Ukraine will follow this path as well.

"But before developing the mechanism, we need to conduct an audit and determine the scale of the problem in Ukraine, taking into account military risks. Then we can find optimal incentives to attract private investors and convince residents of the feasibility of the solution," Shuliak added.

Earlier, we wrote about apartment prices in Kiev with and without renovation.