What is rent?
Rent, or rent, is the money that citizens of the Russian Federation pay to the state for the provision of water, gas and other services necessary for normal life. If we use a little more official terminology, then rent is a strictly established amount of money that the owner of the premises must pay monthly to the supplier’s account in exchange for providing a list of utilities necessary for comfortable living. But what are these services? What is included in the rent?
In fact, the term “rent” is already somewhat outdated. Most residents of the Russian Federation have long begun to use words such as housing and communal services or housing and communal services. However, the essence has not changed at all.
It is also worth noting that the rent is included in the cost of living.
So what does the rent consist of? There really aren't that many basic services for which we pay rent. It won’t be difficult to remember them and check: are they really so necessary for us?
Subsidies
On the territory of the Russian Federation, a list of beneficiaries has been established who may qualify for a reduction in the amount of deductions or the cancellation of certain types of financial obligations (for example, major repairs). These include pensioners, disabled people, large and low-income families.
A subsidy procedure is also provided. These are general preferences that property owners can count on. The essence of the program is to limit the amount of compensation depending on the total family income. If profits rise, then the amount of deductions for housing and communal services will increase.
If disputes arise with housing companies or service providers, you must file a claim in court to protect your rights.
Cold water supply
The list of housing and communal services included in the rent begins with such critically and desperately needed water. To figure it out, it’s worth first talking about what the cold liquid should be, according to the law, in the taps of all residents of the Russian Federation, who, of course, do not evade taxes. So, if we turn to sanitary and epidemiological rules and regulations, then the water coming from the tap should be as clean as possible. The resident cannot find any chemical additives, dirt, bacteria or microorganisms in it. If any are detected, the owner of the premises has the right to file a complaint with the State Housing Inspectorate of his city. Also, there should be no interruptions in the supply of water under any circumstances. The maximum allowed by law is 8 hours per month. If any accident occurs, the bar increases to 24 hours per month.
Heating
But not only water must be warm for a person to live well. Air temperature is also very important. Heating is one of the main utilities that is included in the rent in Russia. And how can the average person live in an apartment during the cold season and still function normally? In the case of heating, as in the case of hot water, the most important thing is the air temperature. Outside the apartment, in the entrance, it cannot be below 15 degrees above zero on the Celsius scale. Indoors, the bar is even higher: at least 18 degrees above zero. However, in different settlements of the Russian Federation the temperature norm can fluctuate within a few degrees. There are other “indulgences” that people have to put up with. For example, heating may not be provided for up to 20 hours a day. And this is during the heating season.
Payments in a communal apartment
The calculation of the mandatory payment will be carried out under special conditions if we are talking about a communal apartment. So, determining the final cost will include:
- each separate room must have a personal light meter (if it is a two-room space belonging to only one owner, then the installation of one device is allowed);
- water consumption is divided in equal parts between residents, depending on the number of citizens living in the block;
- the remaining resources are distributed among the owners in proportion to the number of services used.
Therefore, despite the same living conditions, the amount of final deductions may differ between different owners.
Home maintenance
Residents also pay money to take care of the house. What is included in the rent for housing maintenance? First, cleaning. It doesn’t matter what: stairs, porches, roofs, plumbing, areas near the house, as well as washing and replacing windows if necessary. This also includes snow removal, maintenance of front gardens in the vicinity of the building, ensuring fire safety, removing decorative items on the building that may pose a danger to residents, garbage removal, and control of entrance lighting. And also adjusting and checking the performance of various elements of the house, that’s all the possible answers to the question: “What is included in the maintenance in the rent?”
Payments in new buildings
Maintenance of new buildings occurs somewhat differently. Thus, the need to compensate for the cost of all resources arises even at the construction stage, and during this period the developer company must pay the costs. The responsibility for financial provision of the building remains with the construction company even after the building is put into operation. And only after purchasing housing and completing the privatization procedure, the obligation to transfer money from accounts will fall on the new property owners. At the time of purchase, you must confirm the absence of debts for various types of services.
Additional services
But that’s not all that’s included in the rent. Telephone, Internet, television, intercom and security are considered “operational” services, that is, optional. They are included in the rent only if the tenant has connected them and uses them.
This is the most complete answer to the question: “What is included in the rent in Russia?”
One way or another, all these services are combined into one single receipt.
What is included in the rent receipt?
At the beginning of 2021, a new official style was adopted, according to which all rent receipts without exception must be issued. The main changes are related to the ease of use and simplicity of the document. Nothing should be hidden or hidden. The payer must know thoroughly what exactly he is paying his money for.
First of all, this important document, called a receipt, contains information about the payer, his full name, surname, patronymic (if any). In addition to this, there is detailed information about other persons permanently residing in the payer’s apartment. Of course, the personal account number must be indicated. It is unique and allows housing and communal services to identify one owner of an apartment at this address from another. A bank identification code of the Russian Federation is also required, thanks to which non-cash transfers can be made.
The full address of the house for which payment is made, the owner’s phone number, email - all this can also be found on the first page of the receipt.
Information about what payments are included in the rent must also be specified in the document. Along with it, clear data (down to the last digit) must be indicated on how much money the owner pays for the specified services. If any of the prescribed services are not provided to the tenant in full or not at all, he has the right to file a complaint with the State Housing Inspectorate of his city. The date of the last deposit of money must be indicated in the document, as well as the year and month in which the payment period falls.
You cannot do without a general account, which must be recorded immediately after all utilities and their prices are listed. Reference information is also required; it specifies the standards, that is, how much an ordinary tenant will pay without additional expenses. You can’t do without meter indicators, if they are installed, of course. They largely determine how much the owner will ultimately have to pay.
A consumer memo must also be attached, which contains the basic information necessary for the normal use of the receipt.
If there are any debts for previous months, they will certainly be indicated. In principle, this is all that should be indicated on the receipt.
Payments if no one lives in the apartment
Increases in all housing and communal services tariffs are carried out depending on the specifics of providing utility support to the population. Thus, providers, faced with the need to carry out major repairs of communications (pipes, wiring, heating devices), can divide the expected costs among all residents. Also, resources may become more expensive if the procedure for their provision has changed or the supplier’s costs have increased significantly.
A citizen can save on electricity and other deductions if he confirms the absence of any persons living in the property; to do this, he must submit the following documents:
- a certificate from the new place of residence of the apartment owner (the statement is valid for six months);
- an extract from the passport office that there are no registered citizens in the apartment;
- explanations of witnesses;
- conclusions of specialists servicing the meters, which indicate that the readings have not changed.
In this case, the owner will have to make auto payments for general maintenance services, but without compensation for the cost of electricity, water and gas.
Features of the document
Still, the simplifications did not help much: understanding receipts is still quite difficult today. But it’s much easier to do this if you know the list of features that set the rent receipt apart from other official documents.
- In apartments where meters are not installed, calculations are carried out in accordance with general standards.
- The amount of the final payment very much depends on how many people live in the apartment on a permanent basis.
- The unit of measurement is each square meter of the room.
- In March 2021, the government decided to make a number of changes to the list of housing and communal services. Now citizens of the Russian Federation, in addition to everything else, are required to pay for the removal of solid household waste from their homes several times a week. This tax is included in the clause on maintaining the house in proper condition.
Payment procedure for utilities
The owner himself has the right to decide how to pay rent. There are several payment options, the most convenient of which is without a doubt the Internet. At least, because to make a payment you only need a few minutes, an account on the Government Services or Sberbank Online portal and access to the World Wide Web. Nowadays, this option is most often used.
The second most popular option is a bank. Taking with you the receipt and the amount required for payment, you can go to the nearest bank branch and pay for housing and communal services there. In this case, you will have to pay a bank commission.
A slightly older option that few people use anymore, but still worth mentioning. You can also pay your rent at any post office. True, they charge a significant commission for providing such services. There is also the opportunity to visit a branch of the management company and transfer funds from hand to hand.
Penya
As noted above, an additional fine is imposed for the formation of arrears in payments. In order to eliminate the debt, many ways to pay for communications were provided. Citizens can use stationary terminals, online access, mobile banking (for example, from Sberbank), and payment desks. But even this range of options does not guarantee timely deposit of funds, therefore, from the next day after the deadline for payment, a penalty begins to be calculated.
Penalties are fixed by each provider separately, depending on local conditions. In some situations, late payments may not be subject to additional monetary penalties. If the property owner has unforeseen life circumstances that require a significant investment of funds, then you can submit a handwritten application to the service provider with a request to suspend deductions.
Tariffs in Moscow
Recently, there has been a tendency to increase utility tariffs. For example, the fee for 1 kW of electricity per hour has increased by 7 or even 15% since last year. The price of hot and cold water supply is also not far behind: plus 7% compared to the first half of the year. And the cost of maintaining housing has reached unprecedented heights: another 15% has been added.
But in general, here’s what utility tariffs look like these days:
- One square meter, where major repairs will be carried out in the future, costs 15 rubles and 15 kopecks.
- Cold water supply today is also not cheap. 33 rubles and 3 kopecks per square meter.
- You have to pay even more for hot water supply. 163 rubles and 24 kopecks per square meter.
- The cost of heating is so high that residents pay it not only during the heating season, but all year round. And indeed: 2101 rubles for the amount of heat we receive per hour is a bit much.
- Sewage costs 23 rubles and 43 kopecks per square meter.
- Gas and electricity are the cheapest so far. The first costs 6 rubles and 16 kopecks per square meter, and the latter costs 5 rubles and 38 kopecks per 1 kW per hour.
Of course, those people who have meters installed pay specifically for the amount of water, gas and electricity that they actually consumed during the billing period.
