Municipal apartment in the Russian Federation 2021: basic laws and concepts

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A municipal apartment in Russia is part of the country's housing stock. Public housing is provided for use under a social tenancy agreement. The apartment from the municipality can be privatized. In 2021, the housing privatization program has been extended indefinitely.

• Municipal apartment: basic laws and concepts
• Rules for the allocation of municipal housing
• Rules for using public housing
• Conclusion of an agreement with housing and communal services
• Inheritance of a municipal apartment
• Privatization of public housing
• Conclusion

Contents of the social rental agreement

Under a social tenancy agreement, the state or municipality transfers residential premises to the citizen in which he can live with his family.
At the same time, he must comply with certain rules of housing legislation. For example, make routine repairs and pay for utilities, and also not do unauthorized redevelopment. What will necessarily be in any rental agreement.

Parties to the contract. The landlord is an authorized body that represents the interests of the owner of the residential premises. The housing itself is part of the state or municipal housing stock. A tenant is a citizen who has the right to receive housing under a social tenancy agreement.

Hiring object. Under a social tenancy agreement, residential premises can be provided - a residential building, an apartment, part of a residential building or apartment.

Non-isolated residential premises, premises for auxiliary use, as well as common property in an apartment building cannot be transferred for rent. For example, you cannot provide a social room adjacent to another - this will be considered a non-isolated room. Or a corridor, even if its area is larger than that of the room, since it is an auxiliary room.

Hiring period. Housing under a social rental agreement is provided for an indefinite period.

Payment under a social tenancy agreement. The landlord establishes the fee for the use of residential premises in the contract. The fee is calculated based on the cost of 1 m². The landlord can change and index this value unilaterally every year.

Each renter sets the price independently. For example, in Moscow, one square meter of housing in an apartment building with all amenities, with an elevator and a garbage chute on the second floor or higher in 2021 costs 29.04 RUR. And in Ryazan, tenants of an apartment in an apartment building no older than 30 years old with all types of amenities will pay 9.29 R per square meter. As a result, a Moscow apartment with an area of, for example, 40 m² will cost 1161.6 RUR per month, and a Ryazan apartment with the same area will cost 371.6 RUR.

Rights and obligations of the employer. The tenant of a residential premises under a social tenancy agreement has the right:

1. Move other people into the occupied residential premises.
2. Sublease residential premises.
3. Allow other people to temporarily reside in the premises.
4. Exchange occupied housing.
5. Require the landlord to carry out major repairs in a timely manner, participate in the maintenance of common property in the apartment building, and also provide utilities.

In turn, the employer is obliged:

1. Use the residential premises for their intended purpose, that is, do not set up a warehouse, shoe repair shop or spa in the housing, for example.
2. Monitor the safety of living quarters.
3. Maintain the premises in proper condition.
4. Carry out routine home repairs.
5. Pay for housing and utilities on time.
6. Inform the landlord if the grounds and conditions under which a person received the right to housing under a social tenancy agreement change.

Rights and obligations of the lessor. The landlord of a residential premises under a social tenancy agreement has the right to demand that the tenant pay for the residential premises and utilities on time.

The landlord has more responsibilities:

1. He must transfer to the tenant residential premises free from the rights of other persons. For example, no other citizens should be registered in this premises and there cannot be a lien or lien on it.
2. Properly maintain and repair, together with other residents, the common property in the building where his residence is located.
3. Carry out major renovations to residential premises.
4. Ensure that the tenant receives all necessary utilities of proper quality.

These are the basic rights and responsibilities of the tenant and lessor, but they may also enjoy other rights and have other responsibilities. For example, if a tenant makes illegal alterations to an apartment, the landlord may demand that he return the property to its previous condition, and the tenant will be required to comply.

Municipal apartment - rights of residents

Tenants of apartments in municipal, state and other housing funds are given broad powers to fully use the housing provided:

• Provide an apartment for residence of any citizens, subject to compliance with the norms of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, including subletting the apartment;
• Exchange housing with another tenant;
• Receive free of charge services for major repairs of both residential real estate and common property;
• Receive necessary utility services on a reimbursable basis.

In turn, the tenant undertakes:

1. Use the housing for its intended purpose, that is, for living;
2. Carry out the necessary repair work and maintain the operational condition of the property and the communications located in it;
3. Pay rent for an apartment and reimburse the costs of consumed utilities.

If you want to find out how to enter into an inheritance if many years have passed and the deadline for entering has been missed, we advise you to read the article.

Family members of the tenant are taken into account in the social tenancy agreement (SLA), in accordance with which the use of specific premises is carried out. Such persons have powers similar to the status of an employer .

The housing complex includes the following as family members of the tenant:

• Spouse;
• Children;
• Father and mother;
• Other relatives, dependents, accommodated as family members.

New family members (children, spouse) can be registered in a rented apartment with the written consent of relatives already living with the tenant and included in the DSN.

To register other family members, you will additionally need permission from the landlord, who may refuse if in this case the established standard area per tenant is violated.

Permission is not required only for moving in young children whose parents are registered in a municipal apartment.

Comparison

The ability to take over ownership of housing from the state provides important advantages. If before such a transaction a person was very limited in carrying out any transactions with housing, then after the procedure he is free to perform any desired actions in this regard.

Someone, for example, decides to bequeath or donate a privatized apartment. Others sell such real estate for material gain or pledge it to a bank when taking out a large loan. All this is in no way contrary to the law. Meanwhile, such actions cannot be taken in relation to housing owned by the state.

The difference between a privatized apartment and a non-privatized one is also that in the first case a citizen will not be forcibly evicted due to accumulated debt for utilities. In such a situation, they can only seize the property. But if the apartment is not privatized, then for the above and other reasons the authorities have the right to take it away and provide in return premises that meet the size of the hostel standards.

The person himself decides who to register in the apartment registered in his name. In addition, if a will is not drawn up for it and the owner dies, then the housing automatically passes to the heirs in the manner prescribed by law. At the same time, anyone who uses a non-privatized apartment must take care of writing a will in advance if he wants these square meters to be transferred to a specific person in the future, and not to go to the state.

It should be noted that privatization is most often a profitable deal. But at the same time, there are cases when it turns out to be inappropriate. For example, it is most likely not worth taking such a step to sell a communal apartment. There is still a chance to get help from the authorities to improve the existing conditions, but you can wait a long time for someone to buy such housing without success.

The system of necessary payments for a particular housing status has its own characteristics. Let's consider what the difference is between a privatized and non-privatized apartment, if we compare them from this position. Thus, ownership of private living space entails the obligation to pay property tax. Here you also need to pay your own money for repairs and other maintenance.

In the case of municipal housing, the user is exempt from such expenses, but he will have to pay a certain amount for rent

It is important that for low-income citizens living within the walls of state property, some payment benefits are provided. In general, for a single person, without potential heirs and not too rich, obtaining personal ownership of living space may be unnecessary

What else can make you doubt the need for privatization? Knowing that in the event of various undesirable incidents, such as a fire or collapse, owners of private apartments can only rely on themselves. It is best to insure such property. And if an unpleasant situation occurs with municipal property or the house is demolished, the former residents receive other housing in return, sometimes even more spacious. The second option is monetary compensation.

Instructions for privatization

Now you will consider this procedure step by step:

• First, contact the relevant authorities: the municipal housing department, which is located at your place of residence. Here you will be given a list of necessary documentation, and will also be able to advise you on what to do next.
• Next, you should submit an application to the BTI to obtain an explication of the building.
• Pay for the document preparation service and the state fee.
• Next, the department checks all documents, prepares a privatization agreement, and sends papers for state registration.
• If employees of this body discover any errors in the design, they will need to be corrected.
• Next, you will be given a privatization agreement against receipt.
• After state registration of this document, you will receive a certificate of ownership.

In principle, the procedure itself is not very complicated, but it is quite troublesome, since you will have to run through different authorities.

Social tenancy agreement

The standard form of the DSN is contained in the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 21, 2005 No. 315.

This document must contain information about the housing provided, the persons moving into it, and establish the scope of authority of the parties.

Changes to existing agreements are made in accordance with the norms contained in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation:

1. Tenants of premises in communal housing, under separate contracts, are given the right to draw up a common document for the premises they occupy if they have become members of the same family (for example, got married).
2. If there is the consent of the apartment residents and the authorized body, the social tenancy agreement can be reissued to any of the legally capable residents; a similar rule applies in the event of the death of the tenant.

The agreement on social rental of an apartment is terminated:

• By agreement between the parties;
• In case of gross violation of the terms of the contract by the employer;
• When the use of the premises is impossible due to the demolition or reconstruction of the house, seizure of the land plot (in such cases, another apartment is provided under a new contract).

Termination of the LTO at the initiative of the body providing housing is possible only in court.

Who will get the non-privatized apartment after the death of the tenant?

The use of residential premises under a social tenancy agreement significantly limits the right to dispose of this property at the discretion of the tenant.

The tenant cannot sell, donate, or bequeath this property, since the ownership of it belongs to the state (city, subject of the Russian Federation).

After the death of the tenant, the legal status of the apartment does not change; it still remains a unit of the municipal (state) housing stock.

In accordance with Article 82 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, any member of the family of a deceased testator who has full legal capacity can re-issue a social tenancy agreement for himself on the same terms.

If other family members or other persons did not live with the deceased tenant, the body that has the functions of managing municipal property has the right to provide this housing under a social tenancy agreement to any persons who have such a right.

Social and municipal housing: what is the difference?

According to a social rented apartment, this is residential real estate of all forms of ownership, which belongs to the corresponding fund. These can be state, communal apartments or private living space used by the fund under an agreement concluded with the owner.

A municipal apartment in the traditional concept is real estate for the social needs of the population, owned by the municipality - local authorities. As a rule, such living space is provided to citizens on the basis of a rental agreement or warrant. It turns out that municipal property is the same as communal property.

Thus, only that municipal property can be considered social, which belongs to the social fund. At the same time, social real estate is municipal only if it belongs to communal property.

For example, private living space, which is included in the social fund on the basis of the relevant agreement (Clause 7 of Article 5 of the Law “On Social Housing Fund”), should not be considered municipal real estate, although it is social.

It turns out that an apartment is simultaneously considered municipal and social only if the following two conditions are met:

• real estate belongs to the social fund;
• housing is owned by a local government body (municipal form of ownership).

From the above, it becomes clear that social and municipal apartments are two different concepts. The first is related to the type of housing stock, and the second to the form of ownership. Therefore, it is impossible to replace one with the other.

In Ukraine, municipal housing programs are practiced, somewhat moving away from traditional methods and concepts. For example, in Vinnitsa, local authorities built municipal apartments with the aim of selling them to citizens at a price favorable to the population.

Let's look at the positive and negative aspects of apartments that are both social and municipal.

Who has the right to privatization?

First, you should consider which premises are not subject to this procedure. You will not be able to privatize housing in a military camp, hostel, or emergency apartments. The service area also cannot be obtained into ownership.

Regarding the question of who can carry out this operation, the privatization of municipal housing is primarily allowed to the following categories of citizens:

1. Large families.
2. To the relatives of the military personnel who died while performing their mission.
3. For disabled people.
4. Families with children who have serious developmental disabilities.

Naturally, there are other groups of the population that can receive the presented apartment.

Pros and cons of apartment privatization: is it necessary to do it?

Privatization is a process in which property owned by the state (for example, residential premises) is transferred into the possession of an individual, that is, a private person. In Russia, since 1991, this opportunity for citizens to purchase state housing has been free.

Since 2002, the Russian government has repeatedly announced the termination of the privatization process “on favorable terms”, as well as the transition to paid privatization.

However, the end date of denationalization has been pushed back for almost 15 years: in the end, the government set the last day as March 1, 2021.

Until this moment, many people still have to decide for themselves: is it worth it or not to privatize housing? To do this, you should consider this process from different angles.

What is apartment privatization and why is it needed?

Privatization concerns only tenants of state or municipal housing. That is, people who rent living space from an individual (any other citizen of the Russian Federation) do not fall under the procedure under consideration.

It is also necessary to have registration at the location of the rented premises, in other words - to be registered in it - and a social tenancy agreement.

• citizens who previously participated in privatization (does not apply to persons under 18);
• persons liable for military service;
• tenants of emergency (dilapidated) housing.

If the conditions for the denationalization process remain, then it’s time to think: do you need to own real estate? And we must answer, taking into account the new status of the participant in the transaction - from the employer to the owner - and, as a consequence, new rights and obligations, because, in fact, privatization is nothing more than a transfer of ownership of property.

Advantages of privatization

1. Ownership

Having privatized an apartment or room, you gain the right to dispose of it as you see fit:

All these actions with housing can only be performed by the OWNER, in other words, the owner of the apartment.

It is not possible for a tenant to carry out the above procedures with state real estate.

Attention!

Some disagreements arise when talking about transferring housing to relatives. Opponents of privatization believe that if you have permanent registration in the rented housing, you can continue to transfer the right to use the premises to relatives. This is partly true, especially if potential heirs are also registered in the apartment.

Then, even after the death of one of the residents, registered persons will continue to live in the apartment.

Otherwise, difficulties may arise: you will need to prove your actual residence in order to obtain priority rights to use the premises.

And yet, using does not mean managing: such an “heir” will not be able to sell housing without privatization. But by that time it may already become paid.

2. Impossibility of eviction.

The right of ownership testifies not only to your authority to dispose of property at your own discretion, but also to the fact that this very property is protected by the law on private property. That is, it is much more difficult to forcibly evict an owner from his own apartment than a tenant.

Why can a tenant be evicted?

• negligent handling of the premises;
• residence of unregistered citizens;
• actual absence of the tenant;
• violation of the rules, and, as a result, causing significant inconvenience to neighbors;
• debt on housing and communal services bills (from 6 months of non-payment).

Of all the listed points, the last two can pose a real danger to the owner: let’s say that the owner owes a certain amount of housing and communal services and is not going to pay. In such a situation, it is possible to collect funds equal to the debt from the owner through the sale of property.

Well, if a tenant turns out to be in such a situation, he can expect eviction to a room with worse conditions. However, the same outcome is possible in other designated situations.

To be fair, it should be said that in both the first and second cases, resolving the issue of eviction is permissible only through judicial proceedings.

3. Compensation guarantee.

Important!

If the house is recognized as unsafe, the owner is entitled to monetary compensation equal to the market value of the property, or the provision of similar premises.

The situation is more complicated with tenants: in order to get another housing, you need to collect a package of documents (including recognition as low-income) and register.

4. Lending secured by property.

Banks will be more willing to provide a N amount of credit if the collateral is real estate. But if suddenly payments on the loan are not made, then this very real estate will have to be used to pay off the creditor.

Who can stay?

Persons registered at the address of communal property may live in the living space. The law provides for the possibility of temporary residence of other persons. The granting of the right to temporary residence is accompanied by the consent of all legal residents.

Temporary residents live in the apartment free of charge for up to six months from the date of move-in. The tenant of municipal property is responsible for damage to property.

The property can be sub-let, for this a written agreement must be concluded. The parties independently determine the conditions for the transfer of residential real estate, which is provided to other citizens for residence.

On what terms?

Close family members, when living together, enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as the main employer. Temporary residents can live for a maximum of six months; there is no legal requirement for temporary residence fees. Exceeding the number of people per square meter allows residents to be evicted earlier, without waiting for six months.

Approximate time frame for obtaining housing

If your application is accepted and you are put on a waiting list, the question immediately arises - how long will you have to wait to receive the coveted living space?

If you rely on the articles of the governing law, then you will be able to obtain municipal housing within a period of no more than one year from the date of a positive decision. However, in practice, such a wait can be three years or more (in some cases, 15-20 years). Such issuance deadlines are exceeded for the following reasons:

• limited funds from the state budget that can be used to provide citizens with housing;
• non-compliance with the deadlines for the construction and commissioning of social housing, the construction of which is carried out by construction companies selected by the authorities;
• too many citizens in the general list. For example, in the Moscow region alone there are more than 100 thousand families on the waiting list for housing.

It is worth noting that any citizen who joins the queue for housing receives his own special identification number and, during the entire wait, can easily find out, using the Internet, what position he is currently in.

To do this you need to do the following:

• go to the website of the administration where the application is located;
• go through the registration procedure;
• log in (for this you will need your last name, first name, patronymic, TIN code and phone number);
• After all data has been entered correctly, information with a serial number in the list will be displayed.

After the turn comes, a representative of the administration will contact the candidate for housing and invite him to conclude a free contract for social rental housing.

By the way, citizens cannot independently choose the housing they like - the administration is already offering a specific apartment or house.

I would also like to note that while waiting in line, circumstances may arise due to which a person may lose his right to receive a municipal apartment:

• the reasons for which he was put on the waiting list no longer exist;
• a citizen decides to move to another region of Russia (or even leave the Russian Federation);
• identification of facts of concealment of any circumstances or submission of knowingly false information, the disclosure of which would impede the possibility of placing in a queue;
• if a citizen used any of his available social benefits for the purchase or construction of housing;
• purchase of housing, land, completion of construction of your own home.

If the applicant is removed from the queue, then within 10 days from the date of such a decision, he (she) is sent an official notification to the address specified in the application.

Advantages and disadvantages

Rules for using municipal housing

Tenants of public housing are forced to comply with all the rules that apply to it. There are quite a lot of them. In addition to the ban on sales, there are also a number of restrictive rules. They are:

• redevelopment of the internal space can only be done with the permission of the municipality;
• It is forbidden to carry out capital works on your own; they are carried out by a special service at public expense;
• Move-in of adult relatives is carried out with the permission of the owner.

Residents can carry out a number of works in public apartments at their own expense:

• redecorating;
• replacement of doors and windows exclusively in places provided for in the plan;
• improvement of living conditions through the introduction of removable technical equipment (air conditioners, for example).

For information: illegal redevelopment without the appropriate permit will be challenged by the authorities. The resident will receive an order:

• legalize construction (if possible);
• or dismantle the structures and restore the premises to their original form.

Agreement with housing and communal services

A person using a state apartment has certain rights. One of them is the right to receive utility services. They are provided on the basis of an agreement, the parties to which are:

• citizen;
• utility service or management company.

Important: the owner of the property (municipality) is not a party to the contract for the provision of utilities. The tenant is obliged by agreement:

The tenant is obliged by agreement:

• pay received bills;
• comply with regulatory requirements regarding the replacement of metering devices;
• do not interfere with utility company representatives inspecting relevant systems.

The service provider is obliged:

• provide them in full;
• maintain a personal account, calculate payments;
• disclose information important to clients;
• carry out repairs at the request of the recipient.

Important: refusal to pay fees for the use of municipal property and utilities for six months without a valid reason leads to the cancellation of the social tenancy agreement (eviction). This norm is given in paragraph 90 of the LC

The right to inherit an apartment

According to legal norms, a state-owned apartment remains the property of the local community until the tenant exercises the right to privatization. If a person dies, the living space is returned to the state. The municipality may transfer it to another employer.

In practice, this algorithm is used only in the event of the death of a single resident.

1. If family members of the main tenant are registered in the premises, they continue to use the apartment. Nobody will evict them. In addition, these individuals can use the privatization advantage themselves.
2. If relatives are not registered in the premises, then there is also a way out. It is necessary that the main tenant draws up a will with an order for privatization. This paper will be the basis for providing housing to the heirs. After receiving the warrant, it can be re-registered as property.

Attention: for direct reasons, municipal square meters are not subject to inheritance

Re-registration process

Re-registration of a social tenancy agreement after the death of the tenant is carried out by the regional government authority authorized to manage the relevant housing stock (housing committee, department, etc.).

In a number of regions, documents can be submitted through the MFC.

Before contacting this authority, family members with whom the responsible tenant lived should:

• Decide on the person to whom the DSN will be reissued;
• Deregister a deceased tenant;
• Prepare the necessary documents.

Next, an agreement is concluded with the new tenant, which must be submitted to the management organization to make changes to the personal account opened for the apartment.

If agreement between relatives is not reached, then the issue of re-registration of the social tenancy agreement is resolved in court.

You may be interested in the article, entry into inheritance after death according to law, without a will, you can read about it here.

Who can apply?

According to paragraph 2 of Art. 49 LCD citizens who are recognized as low-income and in need of housing can count on municipal housing. The procedure for recognition as such is determined in the manner prescribed by the law of the subject of the Russian Federation, based on the family’s income and the value of the property they own. In this case, the family must be registered with the municipality as needing housing.

The following preferential categories of the population can also obtain a temporary place of residence under a social tenancy agreement:

• orphans without official guardianship;
• citizens resettled from premises recognized as unsafe;
• citizens who lost their housing as a result of natural disasters;
• military personnel;
• forced migrants recognized as such in accordance with the law of February 19, 1993 No. 4530-1;
• war veterans and participants in the elimination of man-made disasters;
• citizens who moved from the Far North;
• persons with chronic diseases that pose a danger to others.

Rules for registering a minor child

According to the current legislation of the Russian Federation, the child is registered at the place of registration of the parents. If spouses live separately, the place of registration is the living space where the child spends most of his time. However, parents are not deprived of the opportunity to register their child in the living quarters of the father or mother.

Remember! When registering a child at the place of residence of the parents, there is no need to obtain consent from the owner of the property, as well as other family members. The child is considered registered in the premises in any case, even if the landlord is against it.