Comprehensive housing construction in the village as a component of rural development

Considering the current misbalance between the volumes of housing construction in urban and rural settlements, the author justifies the importance of the construction of modern comfortable houses in rural areas as a driver of progressive rural development. Investigation of the experience of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the realization of a state program of housing construction for rural dwellers based on model projects has shown that, during 2009-2012, in rural areas, 23.6 ths new houses were built (with average cost of one house approximating 50 ths USD). The use of local building materials, cheap labor, and the government preferences have made it possible to lower the cost of houses for the rural dwellers: 1 sq. m costs half of the urban value. The project is a timely one, because of the considerable increase in rural population. In Ukraine, in recent years, the indicator of per capita housing construction has been lower than in Uzbekistan, being the new housing construction concentrated mainly in towns and suburbs. The problem of access to dwelling remains very acute for the rural dwellers because of their low total incomes and expensive credits (the interest rate on mortgage credits, as of early 2013 was 17.6%), while the underfunded government program supporting individual housing construction in rural areas called ""Vlasnyi dim" (Own house) does not satisfy the demands of the rural dwellers. It is evident that, in Ukraine, the best period for encouraging large scale housing construction in rural areas has been already lost. The rural areas are now characterized by a rapid decrease of population, and considerable labor migration with gradual settlement of the migrants in urban areas.