One in Ten Ukrainian Homes Lost to War, UN Warns
Ukraine is facing an unprecedented housing crisis, with more than 236,000 residential buildings destroyed or damaged since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The Gaze reports this, referring to a new report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The destruction has rendered over 2.5 million housing units unusable – roughly 10% of the country’s entire housing stock.
The UN agency says the crisis is worsened by a chronic shortage of municipal housing, an insufficiently regulated rental market, and the mass displacement of civilians fleeing frontline regions.
These factors, the report notes, have sharply reduced the availability of affordable homes and driven rental prices to unsustainable levels.
Approximately 10.6 million Ukrainians – almost a quarter of the pre-war population – have been displaced since 2022. While most have evacuated abroad, 3.7 million displaced people remain inside Ukraine, two-thirds of whom now struggle to pay for housing.
“For many families, prolonged reliance on the rental market has exhausted their savings,” IOM experts warn.
The report estimates that internally displaced persons are spending 50% or more of their income on rent, placing enormous pressure on households already coping with job losses, disrupted livelihoods, and rising prices.
As the war continues, the UN underscores that securing stable, long-term housing for displaced Ukrainians must remain a top national and international priority.
“IOM is dedicated to helping internally displaced people, and the communities hosting them, to build lasting futures,” said Robert Turner, Chief of the IOM Mission in Ukraine. “This includes training for new skills, connecting people with jobs, and securing stable homes.”
As The Gaze previously reported, Ukraine has secured €75 million in EU-funded grants to accelerate reconstruction of essential water infrastructure and kick-start a modern social housing system.
Read more on The Gaze: (Re)Building Ukraine’s Economy as a Pillar of Regional Stability and Security