Housing policy
The main goalof housing policy is to provide the city's population with housing through:- increasing the volumes of new housing commissioned, reconstruction and major repairs of the existing housing stock;
- creating economic preconditions and incentives for attracting into the housing sector funds from citizens as potential investors, long-term loans from commercial banks and other extra-budgetary sources, and for developing mortgage lending;
- state support for the construction of housing for military personnel and young families through the development and application of mechanisms to stimulate banks to provide long-term loans to citizens for housing construction by means of appropriate regulatory and legal regulation;
- state support for the construction of housing for military personnel and young families through the development and application of mechanisms to stimulate banks to provide long-term loans to citizens for housing construction by means of appropriate regulatory and legal regulation.
The city's housing stock totals 3.5 million sq. m; accordingly, there are 16.8 sq. m of total area per city resident.
Given the lack of stable financing for housing construction, the annual volumes of housing commissioned in the city fluctuate:
| Indicator | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | Expected in 2004 |
| Total area of residential buildings commissioned from all sources of financing (thousand sq. m) | 45,2 | 39,7 | 35,0 | 37,0 |
| (% of previous year) | 88 | 88,2 | 88,2 | 105 |
The issue of housing construction for vulnerable groups of the population remains relevant, because 8.9 thousand people are on the waiting list at the city executive committee. The volumes of housing construction for socially vulnerable citizens are insufficient and do not allow solving the problem of providing them with housing. There is also a shortage of quality and affordable housing for the middle-income segments of the population.
The cost of housing built under social programs, as a rule, does not exceed the average cost of housing construction in the regions of Ukraine (as of January 1, 2003, the average cost in Ukraine is UAH 1,463 per square meter) and ranges from UAH 1,000 to UAH 1,300 per sq. m depending on comfort level.
The main problematic issues to be resolved in 2004 remain:
- limited budgetary allocations for housing construction;
- the absence of financial and credit mechanisms for raising funds from the population and long-term bank loans for housing construction, as well as incentives for investing in housing construction;
- the low level of solvency of the population, which does not allow it to solve its own housing problems through construction or purchase of housing on the secondary market.
The main tasks for next year are:
- increasing the volume of housing put into operation to 37 thousand sq. m;
- provision for privileged categories of the population, subject to continued housing construction under social programs.
Amounts and sources of financing for the measures
From the State Budget of Ukraine, UAH 0.97 million has been allocated for concessional long-term lending for the construction and purchase of housing for young families, and UAH 20 thousand from the city budget. The "Housing for Youth" Program provides for the allocation of UAH 1 million from the State Budget in 2004. Construction of residential buildings for young families on Sobornosti Ave. and Karpenka-Karoho St. will continue.
For housing construction in 2004, it is planned to allocate UAH 32 million from all sources of financing.
The construction of social, community and cultural facilities in the city remains a priority. In particular, it is planned to continue the construction and commissioning of the overhead pedestrian crossing at the railway station, which requires UAH 1.7 million; to carry out design work in the area of the central department store—UAH 0.2 million; to build a gas pipeline on Hushchanska St.—UAH 0.1 million; to build water supply networks—up to 1 km and gas networks—up to 0.5 km; and to continue the construction of 0.4 km of hard-surfaced roads.
In the healthcare sector, funding is envisaged for major repairs of the city clinical hospital—up to UAH 4.5 million in total—and for the construction of a perinatal center.