Housing for the Common Good: Sustainable Governance from European Best Practice for Recovery in Ukraine

This publication, “Housing for the Common Good: Sustainable Governance from European Best Practice for Recovery in Ukraine”, is a project report produced within Austria’s Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) “Climate-neutral city” RTI programme. It is authored by Wolfgang Amann, Oleksandr Anisimov, Julie Lawson, Alexis Mundt and Igor Tyshchenko, with contributions and collaboration referenced from institutions including IIBW (Institute for Real Estate, Building and Housing, Vienna), New Housing Policy (Kyiv), and RMIT (Melbourne/Warsaw). The report positions Austria’s limited-profit housing approach as an input to the New European Bauhaus “Rebuild Ukraine” initiative.

The report argues that post-war recovery requires more than emergency shelter: cities must remain attractive to residents in a context of demographic stagnation and competition for young people. Vienna is presented as a reference point because long-term provision of affordable, good-quality housing is linked to urban attractiveness and growth. The authors describe the work as part of a broader effort to connect sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics—core themes of the New European Bauhaus—to housing delivery and governance.

Using cited sources such as UNECE, World Bank RDNA2 (February 2023), IFC, and Ukrainian statistical reporting, the report outlines Ukraine’s pre-invasion housing context: around 18 million residential units, with over 80% built before 1991, and an ownership structure shaped by 1990s mass privatisation. Owner-occupation is described as exceptionally high (over 90% before the war, with one estimate at ~94%), while the rental sector remains comparatively small and often informal. Energy performance is highlighted as a major challenge: an average 264 kWh/m² in multi-apartment buildings (2016) is contrasted with about 90 kWh/m² in the EU-27.

The scale of housing losses is summarised with RDNA2 figures: more than 1.4 million residential units reported damaged, with roughly one-third destroyed, especially in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Kyiv and Mykolaiv oblasts. Losses in the housing sector are estimated at over €16 billion, while total reconstruction needs are estimated at approximately €63 billion (with €29.2 billion immediate/short-term and €34.4 billion medium/long-term). Displacement compounds these pressures: 5.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are referenced, with around 60% renting and a major reported barrier being unaffordability (e.g., 38% reporting insufficient funds to rent at the beginning of 2023).

A core section describes Austria’s Limited-Profit Housing Associations (LPHAs) as private, independent “third sector” entities operating under strict rules (the WGG Act) and oversight. Key performance indicators include: around 1 million units managed (2022), representing about 24% of Austria’s total housing stock and close to 40% of multi-apartment dwellings; stable new construction of roughly 15,000–20,000 units per year (about 28% of total new construction and 42% of multi-apartment completions); and housing subsidies below the EU average, cited at around 0.5% of GDP. Affordability is linked to cost-rent principles, reinvestment of surpluses, and mandatory maintenance reserves; environmental performance is illustrated with reported average heating demand of 29 kWh/m².a in new buildings and 44 kWh/m².a after deep renovation (2021).

The report stresses that transferring institutions cannot be done by simple replication. Instead, it condenses the Austrian approach into a proposed “Common Good Housing” (CGH) model law for Ukraine: 6 chapters, 18 articles, focusing on cost rent, tied assets, limited business activities, revolving surpluses, obligation to build, and strong audit/supervision. It frames CGH as a service of general economic interest (SGEI), aiming to align with EU state-aid constraints through clear public-service obligations and controls.

The authors map where Ukrainian law already has partial building blocks (company forms, supervisory boards, audits) and where it does not (a “limited-profit” status, cost-rent mechanisms, tenant protection and a dedicated supervisory/audit regime). The report notes workshop activity in Vienna (January 2024) showing interest from Ukrainian cities and regions and references the “GESIBA model” (a Vienna city-owned LPHA) as an institutional example. It also provides indicative affordability figures: preliminary calculations suggest net rents below €3/m² could be feasible; for a 60 m² apartment, including operating/maintenance costs and reduced VAT, this is presented as about €240 per month. Financing is connected to the EU Ukraine Facility (adopted January 2024), with low-interest loans described as suitable for cost-rent affordable housing construction.