Developers emphasize need to expand financing and simplify pubic access to eOselia
To solve the housing issue of Ukrainians, it is necessary to increase funding for the state program eOselia, expand the categories of participants and simplify the population's access to mortgage lending, according to Ukrainian developers surveyed by the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
"In our opinion, the first step is to increase funding for state programs, in particular, eOselia, as well as expand the list of categories of citizens who can benefit from such support. In the long term, it is advisable to remove restrictions on profession or social status - all citizens who need to improve their housing conditions should be able to apply. This stimulates not only social stability, but also the development of the economy as a whole, in particular, the primary housing market, which, in turn, has a multiplier effect on related industries," says Oleksiy Koval, head of projects at Perfect Group.
In addition, it is advisable to expand access to commercial mortgage lending with partial state compensation of interest rates for all segments of the population, KAN Development emphasizes.
According to Dan Saltsev, commercial director of Kyiv projects of the Greenville group of companies, today eOselia has not yet become a driver for the real estate industry due to the program's limitations and bureaucratic obstacles for participants.
"Today we see that despite all the efforts of the state, eOselia has not yet become a driver. It is really a good program, but it needs to be significantly improved. Expand the categories of participants, remove some restrictions, free the program from bureaucratic red tape and make it understandable to the general public, communicate qualitatively in the public sphere," he noted.
The creation of a single online portal with the ability to submit applications and book apartments before purchase can simplify access to information about residential properties accredited to participate in eOselia, the press service of Kovalska Group believes.
"We support the idea of creating a single online portal, where all properties accredited under the eOselia program will be collected. Such a tool will allow buyers to find relevant offers faster, apply for a mortgage and immediately book apartments. This will significantly simplify the interaction between clients, developers and banks," the company commented.
According to Anna Layevska, Commercial Director of Intergal-Bud, the introduction of digital services to simplify the procedures for submitting documents and monitoring the fulfillment of conditions will increase the availability of housing and strengthen trust in the market.
In addition, the state could consider introducing mechanisms for co-financing the construction of municipal housing for rent with the right to buy and subsidizing the down payment for the most vulnerable categories of the population, the expert believes.
"Such approaches will not only increase the availability of housing, but also strengthen trust in the market and activate its development in the conditions of the war and post-war period," Layevska emphasized.
It is no less important to continue cooperation with international partners to financially strengthen mortgage programs and develop new mechanisms to support the purchase of housing, believes Rostyslav Melnyk, CEO of RIEL.
