“We don’t have a lease as such, because we’re renting an apartment from acquaintances. And we had it verbally that nobody was going to raise [the rent] during the war. The first year, the landlord didn’t bother us much. And then she started raising the rent sharply. Literally every month, 2–3 weeks before the moment we were supposed to pay, she raised it by a thousand,”– tells us internally displaced woman who currently rents an apartment in Kyiv. She complies with the landlord’s whims, as she has three cats and a child, which makes it difficult for her to find a new place to live. This story is not unique, and it demonstrates key features of the private rental sector in Ukraine – informality and insecurity. 

Historically, the private rental sector in Ukraine existed on the periphery of the political discussion. Since the giveaway privatisation in the 1990s, housing policy has been mainly focused on establishing and formalising the housing market, designing programs to incentivise homeownership. The start of the Russian aggression in 2014 and the full-scale war in 2022 have demonstrated the limitations of such a unidirectional approach to housing policy. 

In 2021, the majority of housing in Ukraine was owner-occupied, and only about 4% of people were renting their homes. However, in 2025, with approximately 4,6 million internally displaced people and continuous damage and destruction to the housing stock, the tenure structure has started to shift. As the recent data demonstrates, the share of tenants has reached at least 14% in regional centres. More than half of internally displaced people are renting their accommodation. The growing number of people relies on renting as their sole housing option. Thus, the issue of balancing the relationship between tenants and landlords, and making renting a secure and adequate option, became even more acute. 

This article draws on the key findings of the research “Rental Housing in Ukraine: Current State and Challenges,” conducted by Cedos (Centre for Society Research), and discusses what these results mean for the recovery efforts. 

Informality, insecurity, and unpredictability in the private rental sector

Predictability and security are particularly important for people under the conditions of forced displacement and war. From the time of their evacuation, many internally displaced people were pressured to change their housing: from apartments of their relatives to collective sites, such as dormitories, repurposed schools, or sanatoriums. The housing journeys of some people began long before the full-scale invasion, as some had been displaced since 2014. In such situations, finally finding a stable home is an immense relief and a prerequisite to integration into new communities. 

However, as our research shows, maintaining a home can be just as challenging as finding one. The majority of landlords in Ukraine are private individuals who operate informally, often without paying taxes. Therefore, they sometimes refuse to sign rental contracts, preferring to rely on informal arrangements. 

Even though the Ukrainian Civic Code offers certain guarantees for both tenants and landlords, the lack of formalisation in the sector limits the possibility of enforcement. Thus, landlords often violate contract agreements by raising prices unexpectedly, refusing to renew contracts, or violating tenants’ privacy. Landlords also perceive internally displaced people as “risky tenants” and prefer short-term, informal arrangements, which aggravates uncertainty.

Contracts themselves do not always offer multilateral protection. First, typical rental contracts in Ukraine last between six months and a year. There are also no regulations on annual rent increases, allowing landlords to significantly change rent agreements within relatively short periods of time. Finally, the de facto court practice of protecting tenants’ rights is limited in Ukraine. Grassroots organisations offering collective bargaining support for tenants have only started to emerge. All of the above makes tenants’ position even more vulnerable as they often have to rely on the landlords’ benevolence. “Whether you have a lease or not, it is very easy to ignore; they can kick you out of the house, or raise the rent”, – sums up an internally displaced man renting in the Khmelnytskyi region. 

Housing unaffordability is another major preoccupation for tenants overall and specifically for internally displaced persons. According to the International Organization for Migration, approximately half of internally displaced tenants spend more than a third of their household’s monthly income on housing. The respondents in our research identified rent price as a key factor guiding their housing search. Many internally displaced people can barely afford their current housing. Thus, even the slightest increase might push them into hardship. Soaring rent prices also prevent internally displaced people residing in collective sites from searching for long-term accommodation on their own. “[Rent together] with utility fees, it’s money I can’t afford,” shares an internally displaced woman who lives in a collective in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. 

Not all landlord-tenant relationships involve abuse; some are built on compassion, empathy, and solidarity. For instance, one respondent shared that her landlord keeps rent down to support the tenant’s medical expenses. At the same time, the housing policy cannot rely on lucky coincidences and appeal to landlords’ sense of justice. The policy requires formal instruments and procedures to ensure protection for both parties, particularly for tenants, who are the more vulnerable of the two. In such a system, there will still be space for compassion and solidarity, albeit less space for violations. 

Housing and recovery efforts

Ukraine is committed to reforming its housing policy. The Ukraine Plan indicates that there is a need to develop an effective system of social and affordable housing able to cater to diverse needs. Creating a predictable and protected private rental sector must become a pivotal part of this reform. 

There is an ongoing discussion within the Government of Ukraine about reinforcing formalisation in the sector through reducing Personal Income Tax (PIT) and military levy for landlords. However, there is little evidence that tax reduction without increasing tax control offers a pathway to security and predictability for tenants. Recent programs, for instance, rent subsidies for internally displaced people administered by the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine, demonstrated limited results. Between January and September 2025, only 184 households applied for the program and only 86 applications were approved. Evidently, tax compensation enshrined in the program did not offer a compelling incentive for landlords. Moreover, it is unclear whether the tax reduction for landlords’ will positively impact housing affordability – a major concern for tenants, particularly internally displaced persons. 

Therefore, balancing tenant-landlord relations by strengthening the protection of tenants’ rights has to be the primary task for the ongoing housing reform. Before providing incentives to landlords, there is a need to introduce and enforce long-term contracts, create an infrastructure for easy contract registration, introduce rent-stabilisation mechanisms, and increase monitoring and oversight of landlords, including tax control. 

Reforms in the private rental sector must be accompanied by the development of a sustainable system of social housing. Social housing with affordable rents, managed by limited-profit housing companies, might serve as a counterbalance to the private sector. With such a system in place, it will be possible to enforce quality standards for rental housing and influence rent prices.

Ultimately, housing policy reforms must be grounded in evidence and data about the actual needs and challenges that people encounter in their search for adequate housing. Regular monitoring is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of living conditions in the rental sector, along with increased efforts to raise awareness of existing regulations and tenant rights. These steps will help the private rental sector become a reliable option for all tenants, including internally displaced persons. However, today, the sector offers limited protection and predictability. As one of our respondents phrased it: “The checkered bag is always packed and ready to leave.” 

First published in Ukraine verstehen.