{"id":3499,"date":"2026-07-10T17:52:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/blog\/ostannij-shans-dlya-bezkoshtovno-privatizaczii-kvartiri\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T18:08:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T15:08:57","slug":"ostannij-shans-dlya-bezkoshtovno-privatizaczii-kvartiri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svaroglaw.com\/en\/blog\/ostannij-shans-dlya-bezkoshtovno-privatizaczii-kvartiri\/","title":{"rendered":"Last chance: why 2026\u20132027 is the deadline for free flat privatisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

An era that lasted 34 years is officially coming to an end. On 13 January 2026, the Verkhovna Rada adopted, and in February the President signed, Law No. 4751-IX \u2018On the Basic Principles of Housing Policy\u2019 (draft law No. 12377). This document simultaneously repeals two pillars of the Soviet and post-Soviet housing system: the 1983 Housing Code and the 1992 Law \u201cOn the Privatisation of the State Housing Stock\u201d \u2014 the very same law under which millions of Ukrainians received their flats free of charge in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

For those who still live in state or council housing under a housing allocation order or a tenancy agreement, this means one simple thing: the window of opportunity for free privatisation is closing. And this time \u2013 for good.<\/p>\n

The figures that explain why the reform is inevitable<\/h2>\n

To understand the scale of the change, it is worth looking at what the mass privatisation of the 1990s did to Ukraine\u2019s housing stock.<\/p>\n

According to estimates by the Confederation of Builders of Ukraine, around 86 per cent of Ukrainians own their own homes \u2014 one of the highest rates in Europe. By way of comparison: in Germany, around half are homeowners, whilst in Switzerland the figure is just 42.5 per cent. The flip side of these statistics is that there is virtually no state or municipal housing stock left in Ukraine. There is effectively no social housing stock \u2014 this is a direct consequence of the state having handed out flats as private property for three decades.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the demand for social housing has skyrocketed. According to the International Organisation for Migration, 60 per cent of internally displaced persons spend more than half of their household income on rent. The state physically has nothing with which to provide for IDPs, young families and vulnerable groups \u2014 everything that could be privatised has already been privatised or will be privatised in the near future.<\/p>\n

There is also a financial dimension: the adoption of housing reform is one of the conditions of the Ukraine Facility programme, under which the EU is allocating 50 billion euros to Ukraine. \u20ac300 million is directly linked to the housing sector. In other words, the state will not back down from the reform \u2013 it has made a commitment to the donors.<\/p>\n

What exactly does Law No. 4751-IX change<\/h2>\n

First and foremost \u2014 reassurance. If you have already privatised your flat<\/a>, nothing will change for you. Your right of ownership<\/a> remains intact; no re-registration is required. The chair of the relevant parliamentary committee, Olena Shulyak, emphasised: \u201chousing privatisation<\/a> is a one-off process.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the rest, the law introduces a new structure for the housing stock \u2014 three separate funds:<\/p>\n