Debts for Utilities: In Which Case Can an Apartment Be Taken Away

In Ukraine, the only housing cannot be sold to repay utility debts if the amount of debt does not exceed 50 minimum wages. In 2026, this threshold is 432,350 UAH.

As reported by the Ministry of Justice, the sale of real estate is an extreme measure of forced collection. Before considering the possibility of enforcing collection on an apartment, a state or private executor must check the availability of funds in the debtor's bank accounts, enforce collection on part of the official salary or pension within the limits defined by law, as well as on other property, including a car or valuable household appliances.

Only if these assets are insufficient can the issue of enforcing collection on real estate be considered.

At the same time, even with a small debt, an apartment can be arrested. In such a case, the housing remains the property of the person, and they can continue to live in it. However, until the debt is fully repaid, the apartment cannot be sold, gifted, or subjected to other registration actions.

If the debtor has other property, such as a summer house, land plot, or car, it can be sold through electronic auctions even for relatively small debts. From the proceeds, the debt amount, enforcement costs, and a 10% enforcement fee are paid first, and the remainder is returned to the owner.

Since the introduction of martial law in Ukraine, additional restrictions have been in place in the field of forced enforcement of decisions aimed at reducing the financial burden on citizens. In particular:

• enforcement on the debtor's pension or scholarship has been suspended (this does not apply to decisions on alimony collection, compensation for harm caused by injury, other health damage, or death due to a criminal offense, and decisions where the debtors are citizens of the Russian Federation);
• the debtor is allowed to use funds from a frozen account within two minimum wages per month (an application must be submitted to the executor for this);
• for small debt amounts, enforcement on the debtor's only housing and the land plot on which it is located is not carried out;
• a moratorium is in place on the alienation of mortgaged housing for certain categories of consumer loans;
• forced enforcement of decisions is prohibited in temporarily occupied territories and in combat zones.

These rules are temporary and apply during the period of martial law.

As previously written by the «Judicial and Legal Newspaper», utility debt remains one of the most acute financial problems for Ukrainian families. The reasons for accumulating debts are most often income reduction, forced relocation, staying abroad, or errors in accounting for consumed services.

The most common option is restructuring, which allows distributing the debt amount over a long period and paying it in parts.

In addition, if a residential building or apartment was damaged or destroyed due to hostilities, after documenting such circumstances, payment for certain services may not be charged. To do this, it is necessary to confirm the damage through local government authorities or the "Diia" service and notify the service providers.

A separate procedure applies to housing in temporarily occupied territories or in active combat zones. In such cases, payment for a significant part of utilities is usually not charged.