Grass without a home: a queue of orphans for apartments has grown in three regions
In Russia, the regions' debt to orphaned children, who must receive apartments or housing certificates from the state, is decreasing, according to an analysis by the Accounting Chamber (JV). But in three regions, on the contrary, it is growing. For example, in Yakutia, 308 million rubles allocated to provide housing for graduates of orphanages have not been spent. Potential recipients of housing note that the main justification from the authorities for waiting for years usually boils down to the fact that "there is no money in the budget, and there are too many orphans in the queue." About why the money has not been spent on housing, which is guaranteed to orphans, is in the Izvestia article.
Where the waiting list for apartments is growing
At least three Russian regions — Yakutia, Chelyabinsk and Tver regions — have seen an increase in debt to orphaned children over the past three years, who must receive apartments or housing certificates from the state. The Accounting Chamber came to such conclusions in its report (Izvestia has it).
"In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the number of orphaned children who were not provided with housing in a timely manner increased by 13% in 2023-2024, to 1.8 thousand people. In the Chelyabinsk region — by 8% (up to 3.8 thousand people), in the Tver region — by 7% (up to 1.8 thousand people)," the document says.
According to the ministry, the pace of liquidation of the regions' debt to orphaned children remains low, which "indicates the lack of effectiveness of the measures being implemented in this area." These measures are usually implemented at the expense of regional budgets — the share of federal funding on average does not exceed 10% of the total expenditures of the subjects.
At the same time, if federal funds are used in full, then the funds of regional budgets are not spent fully and often not efficiently enough, the Accounts Chamber notes.
"Thus, in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), if there is a need to provide housing for 80 orphaned children, the remaining funds allocated from the regional budget for these purposes amounted to 308 million rubles," the document says.
Izvestia has sent inquiries to three regions asking them to explain why the waiting list for apartments has increased.
In 2024, Anastasia, an orphan from the Chelyabinsk region, turned to State Duma deputy Valery Gartung with a request to help her get an apartment.
— The girl has been waiting for an apartment for five years now. Anastasia dreams of serving in the police, but so far she has to work wherever she has to, unofficially, for 13 hours a day to pay for rented housing. At the same time, she has all the rights to the apartment. Didn't the millionth city have 18 square meters of housing for an orphan? I called the acting mayor of the city and asked him to speed up the resolution of this issue," the deputy wrote on his social networks.
Where are the queues decreasing
But there is a positive trend in providing orphans with housing in the whole country. From January 2023 to July 2025, the number of people who did not receive housing decreased by 5.6% — from 190 thousand to 180 thousand people. So, in 2023, 37.5 thousand orphans were provided with apartments, and in 2024 - 38 thousand.
"In the verified regions of Russia, a decrease was noted in the Altai Territory and the Orenburg Region: in 2023-2024, the number of waiting lists decreased by 5% to 5.4 thousand and 2.9 people, respectively," the report says.
Among the positive aspects, the Accounting Chamber noted an increase in funding in this area. In 2025, expenses increased by 12% compared to 2023 and amounted to 110 billion rubles. In addition, the introduction of certificates for orphaned children, special payments for self-purchase of housing, contributed to the reduction of housing debt in the regions.
"If in 2022 this mechanism was used in 41 regions of Russia, then in 2025 — in 65 regions. The number of orphaned children provided with housing with the help of certificates in 2023-2024 averaged about 9 thousand people. This is 24% of the total number of orphaned children who received housing during this period," the report says.
But often the limiting factor when using housing certificates is their cost — now it is determined according to the uniform standard of the Ministry of Construction, based on the average market price of 1 sq.m. more housing in the region, noted in the Accounting Chamber. As a result, in most regions, the price of housing significantly exceeds the cost of the certificate — by an average of 30%.
In this regard, the Accounting Chamber suggested that the government adjust the current methodology and use the average market value of 1 square meter in the calculation. m of housing, differentiated by the municipalities of the region. This will reduce budget expenditures on providing housing to orphaned children and additionally provide housing for about 500 orphaned children.
Another systemic problem is the non—enforcement of court decisions on the provision of residential premises to orphaned children. As of January 1, 2025, more than 24,000 court decisions remained unfulfilled.
"At the same time, significant amounts of budget funds are spent on paying performance fees and fines for non-compliance with court decisions on time. So, in 2023-2024, 39.5 million rubles were spent in the Altai Territory, Orenburg, Tver and Chelyabinsk regions," the department estimated.
In addition, the inspection revealed violations committed by the regions in providing housing for orphaned children. Among them are the provision of premises that do not meet technical standards and are unsuitable for permanent residence, unjustified refusals to provide housing certificates, as well as the purchase of apartments for orphaned children at an inflated cost. The Accounting Chamber sent an appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office.
"In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the facts of orphaned children living in apartment buildings recognized as emergency and uninhabitable have been established. Apartments in these buildings were provided to 62 orphans in 2013-2021 before they were declared emergency. Of the 62 orphaned children living in dilapidated residential buildings, 12 have been provided with new housing by court order," the report says.
In the Chelyabinsk Region, subventions (earmarked funds) allocated in 2014-2017 for the purchase of residential premises for orphaned children in the amount of 72.6 million rubles were spent on uninhabitable residential premises. They were provided to 93 orphaned children.
"In 2023-2025, all orphaned children were re‐provided with living quarters at the expense of subventions in the amount of 219 million rubles allocated from the budget of the Chelyabinsk Region to the above—mentioned municipalities," the joint venture added.
What problems do orphans face?
About 185 thousand orphaned children cannot get housing due to lack of funding, Alexey Golovan, head of the Complicity in Fate charity center and former presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, told Izvestia.
— This issue has been acute for many years, — the expert notes. — The guarantee for providing housing to orphans is established by federal law, but it is implemented at the expense of the regions, most of which lack funds. In 2023, the so-called housing certificate was introduced in the hope that the queue would start to decrease dramatically. But it is not necessary to say that the certificates significantly affected the situation.
Another problem faced by orphaned children is that they are unreasonably excluded from the housing list.
— Several thousand orphans are forced to apply to the courts every year to protect their rights. They must prove that they were unreasonably refused to be included in the housing list or unreasonably excluded from the list," said Alexey Golovan.
In addition, the money allocated by the regions to provide orphans with housing is often spent inefficiently, the expert believes.
— Several orphans from the Krasnodar Territory have been waiting for housing for a very long time, and now they want to give it up. The house is almost in the field. It is located far from the district center — there are no shops, schools, kindergartens, or even a bus stop nearby. The quality of the house is poor, everything is crumbling, collapsing. And they've only been living there for six months. And there are many such situations," he said.
Alexey Golovan also noted that some Russian regions "are tempted to reduce additional regional guarantees," since guarantees for orphans to provide housing have already been established by federal law.
— So, in Moscow in 2024, they began to exclude orphaned children from the list for housing, which they had been waiting for for many years. At the same time, monstrous situations are being played out. One girl was supposed to get a place to live, but then she was excluded from the list due to a change in the law. Now she must return to the apartment, where one of the owners is her father's murderer. He killed him in the same apartment, inflicted 36 stab wounds. Another orphan girl should return to a one-room apartment with an uncle she doesn't know at all," the expert noted.
On average, orphaned children in Russia are waiting in line for housing from three to 14 years old, said Alexey Golovan. According to him, the situation is most difficult in the Kemerovo Region, the Far East, Altai and Primorye.
— Many people are forced to accept a housing certificate, but it does not cover the cost of the entire apartment. They take out loans, mortgages. In general, the guarantee, which the state calls a measure of state support, is already becoming partly state-owned, and partly at the expense of orphans," he said.
So far, most regions of the country have not been able to find enough funds to prevent the formation of long-term queues for apartments, an expert from the Popular Front told Izvestia. Analytics" by Sergey Voityuk.
The expert noted that an additional opportunity was introduced for orphans — not to wait for the provision of square meters, but to take a certificate for payment, which, combined with maternity capital, a mortgage and their own funds, allows them to get exactly the desired housing.
— In order to obtain a housing certificate, it is necessary that the applicant's income meets or exceeds the subsistence minimum in the region of his residence, calculated for each family member. It doesn't matter how much his family earns. As a result, the potential recipient of the certificate was deprived of the opportunity to use it due to a bureaucratic formality," noted Sergey Voityuk.
Now that the initiative to correct this injustice has been supported by the government, orphans will be able to realize their legal right to receive state support faster, the expert emphasized. According to Alexey Golovan, it is possible to reduce housing queues, and, above all, by increasing subsidies from the state.
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