How legal support helped secure a new home

Pavlo’s house in the village of Yastrubyne in Sumy region was destroyed by hostilities, and his family was left without housing. He had all the documents for the house, but he did not know how to obtain compensation and did not have the funds to deal with the process.

Pavlo turned to lawyers of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC). There, he was given free explanations about the next steps and support in understanding the required documents. The man decided to obtain a housing certificate in order to purchase new housing. First, it was necessary to prepare a technical passport and enter information about the house into the State Register of Property Rights to Immovable Property. With the support of a DRC lawyer, Pavlo received funds to complete the paperwork and submitted the application through the Administrative Services Centre.

Then another problem arose — the destroyed house had to be inspected. Because of active hostilities, the commission could not do this independently, so Pavlo was referred to an independent specialist. DRC supported him here as well by covering the costs of preparing the technical report. After all the documents had been prepared and submitted, the commission carried out the inspection and adopted a positive decision. Pavlo received a housing certificate and, already in January 2026, purchased a new apartment.

Today, he once again has a home of his own.

*The image is an illustration and does not reflect the specific events described in the story.

DRC provides free legal aid in Sumy region thanks to funding provided by the European Union.