Housing subsidies: why IDPs are losing government payments (video)

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) lost government payments starting March 2024, prompting the Ukrainian authorities to provide them with rental housing subsidies. However, very few have received the subsidy due to a number of issues that officials overlooked. Most individuals who relocated from Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, and Soledar were unable to benefit from state assistance. The chairman of the Association of Young IDPs, Arkadiy Petrosyan, discussed the challenges of housing subsidies for displaced persons during a broadcast on the "Kyiv 24" channel.

Housing Subsidies — Details on IDP Payments

Petrosyan explained that the government's decision regarding subsidies for IDP rental payments has certain flaws. Due to these issues, individuals who lost their homes because of the war and are renting in other regions of Ukraine will not receive payments. The interviewee highlighted two main problems that await the displaced.

The first issue is that the rental subsidy for IDPs is canceled if the landlord already receives a subsidy or other state assistance. According to the activist, a portion of landlords are pensioners. Consequently, many pensioners receive subsidies for housing costs. This means that IDPs lose the opportunity for rental subsidies because there is already one form of assistance for the apartment.

"There’s a situation where if the landlord is already receiving subsidies through other programs — and you know, many people receive subsidies for utilities — then this subsidy will not apply for rental housing," Petrosyan stated.

The second issue is the "gray" rental market (i.e., the lack of official contracts between tenants and landlords). In such cases, it is impossible to receive housing subsidies for IDPs, as the state simply does not recognize these rentals. Additionally, people are reluctant to formalize these transactions, even if the government were to compensate for income tax (PIT), the activist noted.

"Landlords do not want to officially register relationships with internally displaced persons. Even if the government covers the PIT, or if it covers the single tax for individual entrepreneurs. There are many reasons; they would need to declare this income, declare the apartment, and so on," Petrosyan clarified.

Payments for IDPs — Changes from January 29

We remind you that Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal detailed the conditions for housing subsidy payments for IDPs.