Introduction

According to the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine, as of January 2026, 4.6 million people were registered as internally displaced persons. Housing is one of the sectors that has suffered the most negative impact of the war. As of the end of 2024, about 13% of the total housing stock had been destroyed or damaged, affecting 2.5 million households.

Housing and housing policy are among the key topics that Cedos Think Tank works on. We advocate for the development of housing policies that can comprehensively respond to diverse housing needs. We are convinced that social housing—that is, housing for long-term affordable rent—can become one of the key pathways for overcoming the consequences of the housing crisis. In order to advocate for the need to develop social housing in Ukraine, we conduct research and collect data on the housing conditions of the population and changes in the housing sector.

The aim of this survey was to examine housing conditions, in particular housing affordability, the structure of forms of tenure in the housing sector, as well as the population’s vulnerability to a hypothetical loss of housing. In order to assess changes in the housing sphere and ensure continuity of research processes, we repeated some of the 2022 questions in this year’s study.

Methodology

The fieldwork stage of the survey was conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology at the request of Cedos Think Tank from September 19 to October 5, 2025. The survey was carried out using computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI), based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers (with random generation of telephone numbers and subsequent statistical weighting). A total of 2,015 respondents living in all regions of Ukraine (except the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) were surveyed. Interviews were conducted with people aged 18 and older who, at the time of the survey, were living in territories under the control of the Government of Ukraine. Residents of temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and people who left abroad after February 24, 2022, were not included in the sample.

The distribution of the entire adult population by macroregion and type of settlement was determined on the basis of data from the Central Election Commission, based on the results of the 2019 parliamentary elections (by the number of registered voters). The sex and age structure was determined according to data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine as of 1 January 2021. A weighting procedure was applied to the obtained data.

The statistical margin of error of the sample (with a probability of 0.95 and a design effect of 1.1) does not exceed:

  • 2.9% for indicators close to 50%,
  • 2.5% for indicators close to 25 or 75%,
  • 1.7% for indicators close to 10 or 90%,
  • 1.3% for indicators close to 5 or 95%,
  • 0.6% for indicators close to 1 or 99%.

Due to the unavailability of statistical data on the structure of Ukraine’s population after the Russian invasion, the study’s conclusions may contain inaccuracies when extrapolated to the current population of Ukraine.

A total of 2,015 respondents took part in the survey. The socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents are as follows:

  • 45% of the surveyed people are men, and 55% are women.
  • 37% of the respondents belong to the 18–39 age group, 34% of the respondents belong to the 40–59 group, and 29% are 60 and older. 
  • The highest share of the surveyed people live in the Central Macroregion (38%). 29% live in the Western Macroregion, while 23% live in the Southern and 10% in the Eastern Macroregions.
  • 42% of the respondents live in regional centers, 21% in other cities, and 37% in rural towns and villages.

When analysing responses to the questions, the answer options “Difficult to answer” and “Refusal to answer” were excluded from the analysis as missing values.

This report is the second wave of the study Housing and Residential Conditions of Ukrainians: Survey Results. In this report, we compare some of the data obtained in 2025 with the data from 2024. The questions for which comparisons are presented had exactly identical wording and response options in 2024 and 2025.

Conclusions

A comparative analysis of the housing situation of Ukrainians in 2024 and 2025 indicates the persistence of key trends in the housing sector in Ukraine over the year. During both waves of the study, the vast majority of Ukrainians lived in their own housing, and the second most common form of tenure was renting housing from private individuals. 

However, we observed significant changes in the structure of housing tenure as a result of the onset of the full-scale war. Our analysis in 2024 shows that, compared to 2021, the share of people living in their own housing decreased substantially, while the share of those renting housing from private individuals increased. The second wave of the study, conducted in 2025, demonstrates the persistence of this trend: the share of people renting housing is not decreasing.

Housing costs remain a significant financial burden for a considerable share of households. The most vulnerable are low-income households: 16% of them spend more than half of their income on housing, and about 90% are forced to cut expenses because of housing costs, particularly on food (38%) and clothing (42%). The results obtained indicate a persistent problem of housing unaffordability, which primarily affects economically vulnerable households.

The housing situation remains insufficiently secure for a significant share of households. Almost half (48%) of respondents do not have a plan of action in the event of housing loss, and compared to last year the share of such responses has increased (from 42% in 2024). The possibility of independently securing alternative housing remains limited: only 17% of respondents would be able to rent other housing, and 3% would be able to purchase their own. This indicates high vulnerability of the population in the event of sudden housing loss and a lack of affordable and stable housing alternatives. The most vulnerable group is still older people, who are much more likely to lack a scenario of action in the event of housing loss and are less likely to consider renting as a realistic alternative for themselves.

Housing challenges concern renters significantly more often than those living in their own housing: only 35% of renters stated that they do not face housing-related challenges, compared to 48% among homeowners. Renters more often encounter high housing costs, weaker protection of rights, and unstable living conditions. At the same time, households living in their own housing more frequently state that the lack of guarantees of support in the event of housing loss is a challenge for them. This highlights the need for a housing policy that would enable comprehensive protection of tenants’ rights and support households in the event of housing loss, regardless of the form of tenure.

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