Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been causing destruction of our homes and civilian infrastructure, which accelerated in 2022. Ukraine must achieve both goals without one getting in a way of another, that is:
- address millions of displaced people in the safer regions as well as homeless citizens in the liberated towns and cities
- create a viable housing ecosystem which would provide our citizens with affordable, safe and quality homes once Ukraine is at peace
In June 2022, INTEGRITES partnered with Affordable Housing Institute, Ma, USA, to form the Rehousing Ukraine Initiative or RUI. RUI involves the lawyers from the firm’s Banking & Finance, Real Estate & Construction, and Corporate Law practices, in-house analytical and PR teams.
RUI volunteered to advise the Ministry of Communities and Territorial Development of Ukraine and other agencies of the Ukrainian government on policy development and to advise local communities and territories on their projects to receive and integrate internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Rehousing Ukraine Initiative works with a mix of pro bono and paid initiatives:
1. Educational efforts for the benefit of the policy-makers and local communities
- educational materials on the affordable housing solutions that can be borrowed from worldwide:
- Watch the recordings of the virtual conferences
- Download here the Ukrainian-English Glossary of Housing Terms
- Read here the Paper on Economic and Policy Considerations for Designing a Ukrainian Affordable Housing Policy
- quick fixes of the housing issues in the post-cataclysmic situation
- bringing peer knowledge for the Ukrainian local communities to adapt and implement
2. White and Green papers for the policy-makers on the post-war relief and rehousing
- creating the policy approach and adding legal tools to ensure the affordable housing (rental/ownership, social housing, PPPs)
- implementing the efficient and sustainable subsidies for the IDPs and homeless in the Ukrainian case
3. Consultancy and networking on the housing in the local communities
- forming a blend of experts to tackle the task from various angles: financial, engineering, urban planning, architectural design and legal – to deliver time-driven and cost-efficient solution on typical problems such as eminent domain application, repurposing the buildings, revitalization of the neighborhoods
- negotiating the term sheet of the proposed solution
- review of the title and business plan
- drafting the documents, including decisions by the land authority
- matchmaking with the potential donors and financiers
4. Advocating legal changes and their implementation
- strategy to change the momentum to introduce
- Fast track housing design and construction
- New construction code provisions
- Innovative materials and construction technologies
- finding proper experts in the industry to voice the argumentation
- work with the regulatory agencies to have the project approved