Local authorities ‘forget’ to register orphans for housing in two Ukrainian regions

Local government authorities in the Chernihiv Region (Oblast) “forgot” to place three orphans and children deprived of parental care on the housing register, while eight children in this category were overlooked in the Volyn Oblast, the Ombudsman’s Office reported. Following parliamentary control, their rights were restored.

Photo: Illustrative by Pixabay

Under Ukrainian law, orphans and children deprived of parental care who do not have their own housing are entitled from the age of 16 to be placed on the housing register and the social housing register at their place of origin or residence before they were placed in institutions or family-based care. From the age of 18, such children must be provided with social housing within a month, until they are given a furnished living space for permanent residence.

If orphans and children without parental care are on the social housing register from the age of 16, this is not a ground to deny their registration on the housing register under state housing programmes or to remove them from it, the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights explained to the local government authorities.

A monitoring group found that the children’s affairs service of the Boratyn village council did not place orphans on the housing queue, believing that their place of registration or their right to use property was a reason not to do so. Following the Ombudsman’s recommendations, the service put eight children in the housing queue. As of 3 August, there were already 10 orphans and 11 children deprived of parental care on the housing register in the “hromada”, a local government area that includes one or more nearby settlements.

Monitors from the Ukrainian ombudsman for Human Rights in the Chernihiv Oblast visited the children’s affairs service of the Desna settlement council and found that three orphans and children deprived of parental care had not been placed on the housing register in time. The Ombudsman provided recommendations to eliminate these violations, but the settlement council did not implement them. The children were registered in the housing queue only after repeated appeals by the institution.

To provide background, in Ukraine, more than 49,000 Ukrainian orphans and children deprived of parental care are currently in the queue to receive housing from the state. Of these, 41,000 are aged 18-35 and have been waiting to be housed for years. In 2024-2025, only 196 orphans received housing warrants.

On 4 August 2026, the president signed Bill No. 7087 on the delimitation of powers of state authorities, according to which the executive committees of local councils are tasked with protecting children’s rights, their housing and property rights, resolving disputes between parents, and establishing children’s affairs services.

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