Social assistance for housing and communal services

Since 1995, Ukraine has had a state social protection program, the Housing Subsidies Program. Its goal is to protect the poorest segments of the population who cannot pay for housing and utility services in full in the face of rising prices.

Housing subsidy is a non-cash benefit, meaning that people do not receive money in person. Part of the cost of housing and utility services is compensated by transferring money from the state budget to the account of utility companies that provide housing and utility services to families.

The main principle of state aid in the form of housing subsidies is that each eligible family should pay no more than 10%-15% of its total income for housing and utilities, solid fuel and liquefied gas within the approved consumption rates (depending on the family composition). The rest is paid by the state.

On September 8, 2010, the Government adopted an important decision to strengthen social protection of the population when paying for housing and communal services and to simplify the procedure for providing housing subsidies to the population

The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 861 dated September 8, 2010 „On streamlining certain issues related to the implementation of a simplified procedure for granting subsidies to the population to reimburse the costs of housing and communal services, purchase of liquefied gas, solid and liquid heating oil” granted local labor and social protection authorities the right to grant housing subsidies for the heating season 2010/2011 based on applications submitted during August and September 2010.

As a result, citizens who applied for a subsidy in August and September but did not qualify for it due to the low cost of services during the non-heating season will be granted a subsidy for the heating season without additional application to the labor and social protection authorities.

Without an additional application, the subsidy for the heating season will be granted to those citizens who were granted such assistance in August and September this year for six months.

Only the income of citizens for the six months preceding the start of the heating season will need to be clarified to determine the subsidy for the heating season. The amounts of pensions and social assistance will be obtained by the labor and social protection authorities from the relevant databases. Certificates of other income (wages, scholarships, etc.) must be provided by able-bodied citizens and working pensioners.

In addition, the Government decision granted the labor and social protection authorities the right to:

• to recalculate the amount of subsidies granted before August 1, 2010, based on the new percentages of total income, including subsidies for the purchase of liquefied gas, solid and liquid household stove fuel, without citizens' appeals;
• receive applications and necessary documents from citizens by mail;
• make inquiries and receive free of charge from the State Tax Service, State Automobile Inspectorate units, technical inventory bureaus, State Control and Audit Service, other executive authorities and local self-government bodies the information necessary for the allocation of subsidies and verification of the accuracy of data received from persons applying for subsidies.

The Government's decision instructs central executive authorities to resolve some of the issues that need to be addressed by the simplified procedure for providing housing subsidies to the population, in particular, in accordance with their powers:

• The State Tax Administration should develop a mechanism for accounting for the income of entrepreneurs who have chosen the simplified taxation system;
• The Ministry of Internal Affairs - to regulate the issue of providing certificates on the composition of persons registered in a residential building;
• The Ministry of Housing and Communal Services, the Ministry of Fuel and Energy, and the Ministry of Labor to resolve the issue of granting subsidies to elderly citizens who live alone and pay for utilities through accounts opened in the names of homeowners.

The law provides for circumstances under which housing subsidies are terminated.

1. Upon submission by the service provider organization that the citizen to whom the subsidy has been assigned does not pay the appropriate share of housing and communal services, except in cases related to delayed payment, pension, etc., which is confirmed by relevant documents.The citizen acquires the right to receive the subsidy for the next period after submission of documents confirming the repayment of the debt.
2. If a citizen concealed or knowingly submitted false information about income and property status.

If overpayments of subsidies are detected, the labor and social protection departments notify the recipients of housing subsidies of the need for and timing of the refund. If they do not return the funds voluntarily within the established timeframe, they file lawsuits in court.

The experience of other countries shows that the introduction of housing subsidy programs has often been accompanied by a decrease in non-payment rates.

The housing subsidy program has become one of the most important social protection programs. It is the first targeted social protection program in Ukraine aimed at the poorest segments of the population, which has relieved social tension in society in the context of rising prices and tariffs for housing and utility services and energy.