Rental Assistance and Housing Placement in Winter 2022-2023 for Vulnerable IDP Households in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine With over 6.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs) flocking to western Ukraine, there is an urgent need to provide them with safe and winterized shelter solutions. As temperatures plunge, schools open, and host communities tire, households, especially vulnerable households, need mid-term shelter solutions to ensure their health, security and well-being. Rental assistance is the critical shelter need identified by the Winterization plan released by the Protection Cluster-Ukraine, representing approximately 40% of the anticipated $361 million required according to the current humanitarian response plan. Lviv, as the Oblast with the highest number of IDPs, partners need to support with rental assistance. Therefore, CORE proposes a rental assistance program in Lviv that would prioritize supporting the most vulnerable IDPs in collective centers by providing them with rental assistance and placements into safe accommodations for six months.

CORE conducted a rapid shelter-specific needs assessment, revealing that more than 50% of people living at collective centers would like to move out to more private settings where they have autonomy and private services. In Lviv alone, numerous collective centers anticipate that several thousand families will seek rental options privately if they receive rental subsidies. CORE proposes a market-based rental assistance model wherein the real-estate agents are incentivized to identify suitable rentals and assist families in obtaining a six-month lease. 

CORE will work with local government and shelter partners to identify 300 vulnerable IDP households living in collective shelters in Lviv City. CORE will connect them to real estate agents who will identify and place households in adequate individual apartments during the 2022-2023 winter and support placements. CORE will provide these 300 households with six months of rental assistance and one-time settlement and winterization stipends. 

Targeting: CORE will target the most vulnerable households staying in collective centers according to a vulnerability survey aligned with the Shelter Cluster Technical Working Group on Rental Assistance. CORE will prioritize rental assistance support for families with pregnant and lactating women, families with at least two minor dependents, families with at least one person with a disability, and families coming from Ukraine's most heavily conflict-affected regions. 

Risk Mitigation: Primary risks are insufficient available shelter, and shifts in rental costs present challenges in meeting the proposed reach. CORE will work with local real estate partners to mitigate these risks, leveraging their rental listing databases and extensive networks for finding rental housing. CORE’s lawyer/rental expert will be responsible for developing and executing the rental agreements. Agreements will be in-line with local legal and tax requirements. CORE will continue to defer to the Cash Working Group and Shelter cluster recommendations. CORE will orient the participating real estate agents on PSEA and GBV prevention and humanitarian standards for working with displaced populations and raise beneficiary awareness to mitigate protection risks. 

Approach:  CORE will provide rental assistance directly to beneficiaries via bank transfer.  CORE will also provide supplementary start-up resources. Working with real estate firms will enable CORE to ensure apartments are vetted, minimize protection risks, and mitigate potential fraud. Rental assistance rates will be in-line with the shelter sector recommendations.