Rehousing Ukraine Initiative
In June 2022, just four months after the war began, AHI brought together Ukrainian and global experts in housing, urban planning, finance, and post-conflict relief and recovery to discuss the challenges and opportunities that Ukraine’s housing reconstruction would bring.
Rehousing Ukraine is the key to the country’s reconstruction, because housing is the foundation for families, jobs, and economic growth, and is essential for rebuilding Ukraine’s infrastructure and reviving the postwar civilian economy. Funding for rehousing is a prerequisite for a speedy, strong, and modern recovery.
For four years, starting in February 2022 with a vision between AHI’s Derek Long and David Smith, we foresaw that, no matter when the war eventually ends, housing reconstruction and recovery must be planned in advance so that its funding can be pledged by external donors, and then rapidly deployed. While the specifics of the situation in Ukraine are unique, the challenges that the country faces now are not unprecedented. Critical infrastructure – including housing – has been damaged or destroyed, and 10 million people, roughly one third of all Ukrainians, have been displaced. Initial relief efforts will set the conditions for postwar revival, and Ukraine must balance the short-term priorities of providing temporary housing and the longer-term development of programs and policies for sustainable housing and infrastructure.
In June 2022, just four months after the war began, AHI brought together Ukrainian and global experts in housing, urban planning, finance, and post-conflict relief and recovery to discuss the challenges and opportunities that Ukraine’s housing reconstruction would bring. The events were attended by over 400 people, drawn from 20 different organizations, including Ukraine’s Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories (MinDev), the Kyiv School of Economics, the International Organization for Migration, the International Finance Corporation, the European Investment Bank, and the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.
Today, one out of every eight Ukrainian homes has been damaged or is inaccessible, and overall housing reconstruction costs are now more than US $57 billion.
AHI’s work is helping drive policy change. Starting in 2024, we served as a principal subject-matter expert to the World Bank and MinDev to support the design of appropriate housing policies, principles, strategies, and programs for Ukraine in the aftermath of the war. The new law on the fundamental principles of housing policy, passed in early 2026, lays the foundation for all legal and subsidy arrangements for the future of housing in Ukraine, including further laws on social and affordable housing, mortgage banking, and more. This not only helps unlock €90 billion in European aid, it also sets the stage for pilot properties in affordable and social housing. Starting in early 2025, AHI provided financial and program design consulting to Agence Française de Developpement (AFD), assessing Ukraine’s current affordable housing sector and designing a financial model for social rental housing, establishing the foundation for a sustainable social rental housing system in Ukraine.
As displaced Ukrainians return home to their new realities, municipal and oblast (provincial) institutions will play key roles in facilitating delivery of new housing that aligns with a broader structured redevelopment of the country, minimizes social tensions, and lays the foundation for future growth.
AHI stands with Ukraine and will continue finding ways to deliver impactful support to its housing ecosystem’s actors.