Dynamics of prices for housing and communal services for the population as an inflationary factor in Ukraine

The subject of the study is the legal aspects and dynamics of prices for housing and communal services and energy sources for the population in Ukraine during the war; analysis of the impact of changes in prices for housing and communal services and services for the supply of electricity and natural gas to the population on consumer inflation in Ukraine.The purpose of writing the article is the author’s research on the problem of the impact of changes in prices for housing and communal services and energy sources for the population on the dynamics of consumer inflation in Ukraine.Research methodology – provisions of economic theory and the theory of system analysis, economic–mathematical and statistical methods.The results of the work – the peculiarities of the legal regulation of prices for housing and communal services and energy carriers for the population in war conditions were investigated; a quantitative assessment of their influence on the dynamics of consumer inflation in Ukraine was carried out.Conclusions. The conducted analysis confirms the need to increase prices for household appliances and energy for the restoration of damaged/destroyed utility networks and technological equipment in order to restore full consumer access to relevant services. In the war and especially post–war years (when restrictions on price increases for natural gas, hot water, and heat will be removed), this can become a significant inflationary factor, and therefore, in order to develop optimal price policy decisions, it is important to consider the macroeconomic and social consequences of such an increase.With the help of economic–mathematical methods, the quantitative impact of the increase in housing and communal tariffs on the level of consumer inflation was estimated – based on conditional (theoretical) scenarios and real expectations regarding their growth in the near future.