Ukraine abolishes Soviet Housing Code: what will change for citizens

Ukraine is abolishing the Soviet Housing Code and launching a reform of housing policy. Find out why the new law was passed, how the digital housing system will work, and what this means for Ukrainians

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Ukraine is embarking on a large-scale overhaul of its housing legislation, which is set to change the state's approach to regulating housing relations. The new law repeals the Soviet Housing Code of 1983 and the law on the privatization of the state housing fund — regulations that have not corresponded to modern socio-economic realities for years. This is discussed in an article by Finance.ua.

Why Ukraine is abandoning the Soviet Housing Code

The adopted draft law No. 12377 “On the Basic Principles of Housing Policy” eliminates the outdated regulatory framework, which was formed under a planned economy and effectively hindered the development of the housing sector. One of the key problems with the old regulations was the inability to privatize social housing, which limited citizens' rights and did not correspond to modern approaches to housing policy.

The chair of the relevant Verkhovna Rada committee and leader of the Servant of the People party, Olena Shulyak, emphasizes that the Soviet code has long ceased to correspond to the realities of a market economy. The new law should establish more flexible, understandable, and modern rules of the game for all participants in housing relations—from the state and communities to citizens.

How the law was prepared and why it is important for European integration

The work on the draft law was extensive. According to Olena Shulyak, almost 2,000 amendments were submitted to the document, which was adopted in the first reading on July 16. The relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada, ministries, key participants in the housing market, as well as international experts and financial institutions worked on them for more than five months.

It is important to note that the new law is part of Ukraine's commitments under the Ukraine Facility program, a €50 billion financial support package from the European Union for 2024–2027. This program is aimed at macroeconomic stability, reconstruction and modernization of the country, as well as deepening European integration. Updating housing policy is one of the key structural steps in this process.

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Digitalization as the basis for a new housing policy

One of the central elements of the reform will be the digitalization of the housing sector. According to Olena Shulyak, it is this that should minimize corruption risks and eliminate the “manual control” of processes that has accompanied the distribution of housing and the maintenance of apartment waiting lists for decades.

There are plans to create a unified information and analytical system in the housing sector, which will function as a digital hub. It will bring together all key data in a single environment and automatically interact with other state registries, ensuring transparency and control.

How the unified housing system will work

The new system will collect and process information in three main areas:

● People — complete and accurate records of individuals who need housing and are eligible for state or municipal support.

● Housing — a unified database of the housing stock, including addresses, technical condition of buildings, tariffs, and other characteristics.

● Opportunities — information about all available programs: state, local, credit, housing cooperatives, financial institutions, and social housing operators.

As Olena Shulyak emphasized, there will no longer be any lost papers or opaque decisions. People will be able to find housing on their own, provided with the support of the state or community, and the system will guarantee the protection of their rights.

Although the new law forms a framework model and does not initiate immediate changes, it sets the direction for housing policy development for years to come. In the context of military risks and future reconstruction, the issue of property preservation is becoming particularly relevant for homeowners. That is why many Ukrainians are already turning their attention to tools for quick property protection — in particular, express property insurance, which can be taken out online for an apartment or house on Visit Ukraine without complicated procedures and long waits.

We remind you! In Ukraine, starting in 2026, the approaches to calculating compensation under the “eRestoration” program will change. Read how the update of the cost of repair work will affect the amount of payments, what exactly will change in the checklists, and what compensation owners of damaged housing can count on.

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