The full-scale Russian invasion has damaged or destroyed about 14% of Ukraine’s housing stock. According to the fifth rapid damage and needs assessment as of the end of December 2025, the destruction affected over 3 million households, and direct losses to the housing sector exceeded $61 billion. The state pays housing compensation through the eVidnovlennya program, which as of May 2026 covered 196,067 families. A new qualitative study by REACH, conducted from May 28 to June 12, 2026, in the Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Dergachiv, and Halytsyniv communities, shows that the approval of an application and receipt of funds often become only the first step, after which the housing still remains unrepaired.
Researchers conducted 33 interviews with local authorities, compensation commission members, and NGO workers, as well as two focus groups with residents who received full or partial compensation. The authors emphasize that the findings are illustrative and do not describe all communities in Ukraine.
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The road to repair begins with documents
Submitting an application through “Diia” was called simple and quick by most focus group participants. The next stage — the commission’s inspection — was dragged out for months. The biggest source of delays and rejections were problems with documents: unregistered property rights, unformed inheritance, lost records, and lack of co-owner consent. Resolving these issues rarely happened in one step, and it was especially difficult for the elderly and rural residents.
“It took a lot of time and money. In our village, there was no service, not even a passport office. To restore my passport, I had to travel, pay, and wait until the document was issued,” a focus group participant said.
Commission members confirmed that incomplete property documentation is one of the most common reasons for rejection and emphasized that after resolving the issue, a person can reapply.
Payment is available, but there is not enough money for a full repair
Focus group participants considered the funds from eVidnovlennya to be important, although the approved amount often did not cover the full restoration of the housing. Inflation reduced the purchasing power between the assessment, approval, and purchase.
“If you don’t buy all the materials at once, the amount changes. We calculated 200,000, but after a month, the same materials already cost 250,000. We planned one thing, but when we got to the store, the situation was already different,” one resident explained.
Respondents listed expenses that the checklist did not reflect adequately: delivery and removal of debris, part of the labor payment, plastering ceilings, window slopes, and separate roofing elements. Hidden damage became apparent only after contractors began work, and when a family could not cover these costs, the repair stopped after the most urgent work.
Materials without labor remain just materials
The availability of funds did not guarantee that the repair would be carried out. The elderly and people with disabilities required qualified labor, and respondents reported a shortage of builders, engineers, and contractors due to displacement, mobilization, and risks of working in the front-line areas.
“Even when help is provided, there is often no one to involve in the work. I don’t know how to install doors, and hiring workers is very expensive,” a focus group participant said.
Safety remained a crucial barrier: contractors refused to travel to areas where drone attacks or repeated shelling continued. Families who had already received compensation sometimes left and could not start work. The non-use of funds, the researchers emphasize, reflects displacement and fear of new destruction, rather than an intention to abuse.
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Damage that the system does not see
Some destruction falls outside the existing mechanisms. Damage to the stairwells, roofs, and basements of apartment buildings can block access to compensation for apartment owners until they restore the shared parts of the building. A separate category is housing that is considered suitable for repair, although the work costs more than the maximum payment. One commission member estimated that about 30% of applications in one of the studied communities were rejected for this reason.
“There are houses that are not recognized as destroyed, but the repair calculation far exceeds the maximum payment. The house is damaged, but there is no such payment level,” a focus group participant said.
In January 2026, the government increased the value of the eVidnovlennya checklist items, while the overall compensation ceilings remained unchanged. As a result, families with more extensive damage now more often exceed the maximum amount. Garages, fences, and sheds that feed families and support agriculture also remain without support.
“My fence is damaged, so I couldn’t plant a garden because dogs come in and destroy everything. The garage was also damaged,” a resident shared.
Commissions work at the limit of their capabilities
Most of the surveyed commission members considered their commissions to be working, although a significant part of the equipment was provided by NGOs. Staffing overload was felt more sharply in large cities, where the commission’s duties were added to the main work without additional pay.
“No one takes the main load off the commission members. People get tired and burn out, and salaries in local self-government are much lower than market rates. Therefore, staff turnover is high,” a commission member said.
A structural problem was the suspended cases of owners who had left uninhabitable or dangerous housing.
“It’s hard to reject an application when the owner has left and stopped responding. The legal basis for closing such a case is not always clear, so the application can remain suspended,” a commission member explained.
Almost all respondents called the final reporting a serious burden: one respondent estimated the level of non-reporting in their community at around 90%. Researchers distinguish this from the inability to complete the repair.
“Due to the security situation, some people cannot use the funds for restoration. The money remains on the account and is returned when the deadline expires,” a commission member said.
Where organizations help and what the result depends on
NGOs supplement eVidnovlennya with emergency work, material and financial support, and legal assistance. Since 2025, they have reduced their work near the front line due to deteriorating security, and rising prices meant that the same budgets covered fewer families. The highest value of such assistance was seen where the state mechanism was unable to respond, or where a small additional payment or legal intervention turned an unfinished repair into habitable housing.
Cooperation between local authorities and organizations, which respondents described as constructive, relies on the SIDAR system under the administration of the UNHCR and the Shelter Cluster. It was recognized as useful for reducing duplication, although planned assistance was sometimes not visible at the time of decision-making by the commissions.
The central conclusion of the study concerns the gap between the approval of an application and a safe and completed repair. Housing compensation often makes a house insulated and protected from the weather, but not restored to a proper condition. It is this gap, rather than access to payments, that determines whether a family will return to a safe home.
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