Ukrainians with temporary protection can get a mortgage, but only from a few banks

You can get a mortgage in Czechia with temporary protection (dočasná ochrana), but in October 2026 only a few banks offer one, and on stricter terms than for Czech citizens or foreigners with permanent residence. Expect them to ask for at least 12 months of Czech employment income, extended temporary protection, own funds of 20–30 % of the price (LTV 70–80 %) and, often, a co-applicant with permanent residence or Czech citizenship.

The reason is that temporary protection is not an open-ended residence permit. It is a status that is only ever extended for a limited period, while the bank lends for 25–30 years and wants to know the borrower will still be here. If you are thinking of buying, work on two things at once: saving your own funds, and moving to a more stable residence status as soon as you qualify. Before you start looking, work out how much the bank will lend you on your income.

Why are banks cautious with temporary protection?

Czech banks sort non-EU foreigners by type of residence, and temporary protection is the least secure of them (as of October 2026):

The rules for other foreigners, from EU citizens to residence-permit holders, are covered in our guide to a mortgage for foreigners.

Temporary protection fits neither of the usual categories. It was created by a special law (lex Ukrajina), and the state extends it by blanket decision, not according to your individual situation.

From the bank's side, that means risks it prices into the conditions. A 30-year mortgage sits against a status extended one year at a time: in Czechia currently until 31 March 2027, at EU level until 4 March 2028. Czech credit registers show only your Czech obligations, and the bank has no way to check debts in Ukraine. And if the borrower leaves the Czech Republic, the bank is left with the collateral and a hard job recovering the rest of the debt.

ČNB (Czech National Bank) regulation contains no special restriction for Ukrainians, though. The only binding limit is LTV 80 % (90 % if at least one applicant is under 36). The lower LTV, the required length of employment and the co-applicant all come from individual banks' internal rules.

What do the banks that lend on temporary protection ask for?

A Ukrainian property offered as collateral and savings held outside the EU usually count for nothing. Income from Ukraine is covered in the next section.

On top of the usual paperwork, expect to provide:

• your passport and proof that temporary protection was granted and extended (the visa sticker or a Ministry of the Interior confirmation);
• an income confirmation from your employer (potvrzení o příjmu), payslips and Czech bank statements for 6–12 months;
• confirmation that you are not in a probation period or serving notice;
• family documents (marriage certificate, children's birth certificates) in an official translation from Ukrainian by a court-certified translator, or with an apostille if the bank asks for one;
• your Czech birth number (rodné číslo), if one has been assigned to you, and, if self-employed, a tax ID (DIČ); self-employed applicants (OSVČ) also need a tax return for at least one full year in Czechia;
• a sworn statement about any obligations outside the Czech Republic.

The property documents (purchase or reservation agreement, title sheet or list vlastnictví, valuation, insurance) are the same as for anyone else; see Documents for a mortgage. Allow an extra 2–3 weeks for translations.

Will the bank count income from Ukraine?

As a rule, only income you can document in Czechia. The bank has to verify it, so what counts is an employment contract, a salary paid into a Czech account, your payment history or a Czech tax return.

If you live in Czechia or usually stay here, you are a Czech tax resident and declare your foreign income in your Czech return as well (§ 2(2) of the Income Tax Act). Income from Ukraine can therefore at least be documented through a Czech tax return. Whether the bank counts it, and how much of it, depends on its own rules, so ask before you apply.

With income in another currency, the exchange rate matters too. If that currency falls 10 % against the koruna, you need 11.1 % more of it for the same payment in CZK (1 / 0.9).

Oksana and Andrii buy a two-room flat

Oksana is under 36, so ČNB rules would allow them up to 90 % LTV. Banks that lend to holders of temporary protection set their own, lower cap, and none of them will offer the ČNB maximum as a matter of course.

Do I need a Czech birth number (rodné číslo) for a mortgage?

The bank does not need one to identify you; whether it will lend is down to its own conditions. The anti-money-laundering act works with the birth number and, where none has been assigned, with your date of birth and sex (§ 5 of Act No. 253/2008 Coll.). So give your birth number in the application only if one has been assigned to you.

Otherwise the Ministry of the Interior assigns a birth number to a foreigner with a residence permit, or on request where a special law requires it, for example for public health insurance (§ 16 of Act No. 133/2000 Coll.). For holders of temporary protection and of special long-term residence, however, lex Ukrajina excludes these rules (§ 6(14) and § 7v of Act No. 65/2022 Coll.). The status itself therefore does not give you a birth number, not even on request for health insurance.

Moneta, for example, lists a residence permit including an assigned birth number among the conditions for its loans to foreigners. Ask about an application without a birth number before you start collecting documents.

How does special long-term residence help with a mortgage?

Nothing improves your chances like a change of status. An amendment to lex Ukrajina (Act No. 24/2025 Coll.) lets holders of temporary protection who have been in Czechia for at least two years, are economically self-sufficient (annual income above CZK 440,000, plus CZK 110,000 for each further person assessed with them), do not draw the humanitarian benefit and have housing and health insurance without arrears obtain special long-term residence (zvláštní dlouhodobý pobyt). It is a five-year permit with free access to the labour market and the option of applying for permanent residence later.

Interest is registered once a year; in 2026 the window was April. According to the Interior Ministry, about 13,000 households with 21,900 people met all the conditions, and they register from 1 October to 31 December 2026. Of all the households that expressed interest, 44 % fell short of the required annual income.

For a bank, this is a permit valid for a clear five years instead of a status extended one year at a time. How a particular bank classifies it, and at what LTV, is something to check in advance: there is no published common bank practice yet. Amendments keep changing the conditions, so check them on the Ministry's website or with OAMP (its foreigners' department) before you buy. The next step is permanent residence, which puts you practically on a par with Czech applicants at most banks.

What happens to the mortgage if temporary protection ends?

Your loan agreement stays in force and you keep paying as before. Protection ending does not cancel the loan by itself, but what the bank may do if you lose your residence status or move away is set out in the agreement's acceleration clauses (zesplatnění). Read them before you sign.

What matters is having another residence status in time. Those who qualify move to special long-term residence and later to permanent residence; according to the Interior Ministry, the others can stay with temporary protection as long as Czechia extends it. If you had to leave, you could sell the flat and repay the mortgage from the price, free of charge if at least 24 months have passed since you signed the loan agreement.

What to do now, even if you will buy in a year

1. Stabilise your income: a permanent contract, a year with the same employer, and your salary paid into a Czech account.
2. Save 30 % of the price plus costs. With 20 % only some banks are open to you; 30 % opens every bank that lends to holders of temporary protection.
3. Build a Czech payment history. Pay rent, phone and energy on time from your own account, because any late-payment record in the registers is a red light for a bank.
4. Sort out your residence. If you qualify for special long-term residence, apply before you start looking at flats.
5. Get your family documents translated in advance.
6. Take your borrowing limit, worked out from your income, to 2–3 banks, or to an adviser who works with clients under temporary protection.

One warning. Do not buy a flat “through a friend” with Czech citizenship who takes the mortgage in their own name. In law they are the owner and the borrower, you have no claim to the flat, and if anything goes wrong you lose everything you have paid. The legal way to do it is to make that person a co-applicant and co-owner, with a written settlement agreement.