Housing for affected Ukrainians. Humanitarian aid and state support

Housing for affected Ukrainians. Humanitarian aid and state support.

As a result of Russian aggression, more than 120,000 residential buildings in Ukraine were destroyed or damaged as of July 2022. These are millions of square meters that need to be restored.

Depending on the severity of the damage, we have two ways of solving this problem: 1) capital repair of the damaged homes; 2) construction of new ones.

Both the first and second options involve a long-term reconstruction process and require temporary shelter for people who will be waiting for a new home.

The solution to this problem is temporary houses in villages for the displaced (prefab, modular, and container).

On July 15, the Minister of Communities and Territories of Ukraine opened temporary houses in the village of Makariv, Kyiv region with the help of Polish donors. This is the 8th project of this type opened in Ukraine (including Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, Lviv, etc.). 15th new projects are currently under construction and should be opened in the coming months.

How can donors help and how Ukrainian legislation regulates temporary houses in villages?

Regulation of this issue can be divided into 3 levels. The first is legislative, the second is by-law, and the third is local.

Legislative. The Verkhovna Rada adopted two important laws in this field - 2254-IX and 2247-IX.

They significantly simplified the regulation of the land and building standards for the placement of temporary houses in villages. Here are the main ones:

- placement of temporary structures and their complexes are now allowed on land plots of any category, except the lands of the nature reserve fund (before that, it was possible to construct buildings on a clearly defined category of land "for construction", the share of which in the total volume of land is quite limited);

- the building must be a low-rise (height up to 2 floors), a quickly assembled structure that can be dismantled and moved with or without further reuse and meet the minimum sanitary requirements determined by the Ministry of Health;

- placement of temporary structures is carried out based on the approved plan for the placement of such structures - this is documentation that defines planning, architectural, constructive, and technical features. Since this is an electronic document that is entered in the Register of construction activities, this is a significantly simplified construction process and canceled: a) the preliminary development of town planning conditions and restrictions on the object; b) permits for the start of construction work; c) complying with the planning of the city where temporary houses are being built, etc.);

- the decision on the development of constructions (specified in the preceding paragraph) is made by the village, community, city mayor, or the head of the military administration of the community - depending on whose jurisdiction the land plot on which the construction of temporary houses are planned to be built.

To conclude, these legislative changes canceled a number of permits and allowed the construction of temporary houses and villages on any plot of land in compliance with construction documents that are available online.

By-law. Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 554 On the approval of the minimum requirements for sanitary and epidemic welfare of the population during the arrangement of places of temporary stay for internally displaced persons set the following requirements:

- the temperature on the premises should be around 18 °C with a relative humidity of 30-70%;

- sleeping places should be located at a distance of 1.0 meters from each other and a distance of 0.8 meters from the external walls;

- a place for isolation of persons in case of respiratory diseases;

- availability of wash basins in the amount of 1 faucet per 5-7 people and provision of technical water in a volume of at least 20 liters per person per day and a number of other requirements.

Local. City mayors or local military administrations were appointed for this process, although they are at the lower level. The operational functions include the following, without limitation:

- allocation of land plots of state or communal property for the construction of temporary houses;

- approval of temporary houses location, which is a necessary document for the start of construction (assembly) of buildings;

- assistance in financing the connection of communications (electricity, water supply, etc.) to the temporary houses;

- ensuring the disposal of waste generated as a result of the operation of the temporary houses.

Summarizing the analysis, the local mayors or local military administrations are appointed as regulatory authorities for the control, approval, and assessment purposes during the construction of temporary houses.

The state, in turn, simplifies legislation as much as possible and allocates funding for the construction of such temporary houses and infrastructures.

Unfortunately, there is no clear understanding of the future damages made by Russia to civilian houses in Ukraine, so the legal field regarding such temporary houses is dynamic. Stay tuned for updates.

How can donors help and how Ukrainian legislation regulates temporary houses in villages?

Regulation of this issue can be divided into 3 levels. The first is legislative, the second is by-law, and the third is local.

The Verkhovna Rada adopted two important laws in this field - 2254-IX and 2247-IX.

They significantly simplified the regulation of the land and building standards for the placement of temporary houses in villages. Here are the main ones:

- placement of temporary structures and their complexes are now allowed on land plots of any category, except the lands of the nature reserve fund (before that, it was possible to construct buildings on a clearly defined category of land "for construction", the share of which in the total volume of land is quite limited);

- the building must be a low-rise (height up to 2 floors), a quickly assembled structure that can be dismantled and moved with or without further reuse and meet the minimum sanitary requirements determined by the Ministry of Health;

- placement of temporary structures is carried out based on the approved plan for the placement of such structures - this is documentation that defines planning, architectural, constructive, and technical features. Since this is an electronic document that is entered in the Register of construction activities, this is a significantly simplified construction process and canceled: a) the preliminary development of town planning conditions and restrictions on the object; b) permits for the start of construction work; c) complying with the planning of the city where temporary houses are being built, etc.);

- the decision on the development of constructions (specified in the preceding paragraph) is made by the village, community, city mayor, or the head of the military administration of the community - depending on whose jurisdiction the land plot on which the construction of temporary houses are planned to be built.

To conclude, these legislative changes canceled a number of permits and allowed the construction of temporary houses and villages on any plot of land in compliance with construction documents that are available online.