What is a communal apartment: rules for living and paying for housing and communal services, rights and responsibilities of communal apartment residents

What is a communal apartment

A communal apartment (popularly known as a communal apartment) is an apartment in which several families and (or) several people who are not relatives live. A communal apartment consists of rooms and a common area. Rooms are considered independent living quarters, each of them housing an individual or family. The room belongs to its residents on the basis of any right arising on the basis of an agreement (for example, on the right of ownership and use under a social tenancy agreement, on the right of ownership under a purchase and sale agreement). The common area is the part of a communal apartment used by all residents; includes an entrance hall, corridor, bathroom, toilet, kitchen.

A communal apartment is very similar to a hostel (student or work). But they have one fundamental difference: a hostel is a place of temporary residence (that is, only during study/work), and a communal apartment is a place of permanent residence. Plus, a room in a communal apartment may be the property of the resident (which cannot be said about dormitories).

No washing machines or garbage disposals

For washing, they used laundries that had boilers for boiling clothes. They rinsed it in nearby troughs. You could also do laundry in the kitchens. Tanks connected to slabs were installed there.

If none of these amenities were available, you had to do your laundry by going to a pond. Garbage was thrown into the rivers because there was no centralized garbage disposal. Buckets of waste were simply placed on the stairs, from where the scavengers took them away.

The conveniences familiar to any person began to appear only with the advent of Khrushchev and Stalin buildings.

History of communal apartments

Prototypes of communal apartments existed already in the century before last. Then the owners of the apartments divided them into parts with partitions - “corners”, which they rented to residents. Communal apartments, as we imagine them, are considered an integral attribute of the Soviet era, since they appeared after the revolutionary events of 1917. The Bolsheviks who came to power abolished private property, and therefore real estate became state-owned, and was managed by local authorities. “Condensation” began to be actively carried out - tenants were moved into large apartments of rich people (at the same time, the original owners of the apartments were often deprived), and communal apartments were obtained. The theme of “compaction” was partially touched upon in his story “The Heart of a Dog” by M. Bulgakov: the chairman of the house committee, Shvonder, constantly comes to Professor Preobrazhensky and demands to vacate several rooms in the professor’s multi-room apartment. By the 1930s, communal apartments had become common and widespread; Their spread was facilitated by industrialization, due to which a flow of population poured into cities from villages. They began to “unload” communal apartments in the second half of the 1950s, when the Soviet state set a course for mass housing construction to improve the living conditions of citizens (then “Khrushchev” appeared). But despite this, communal apartments are not a thing of the past for two reasons. Firstly, the existing system of official housing slowed down resettlement (employees of certain organizations received living space from them for the duration of their work, but they could not carry out any manipulations with the apartment, for example, exchange, since it belonged to the organization). Secondly, the practice was to move neighbors in with a family that had moved to a new apartment. And in the end we got a new communal apartment. After the collapse of the USSR, with the return of private property and the beginning of the privatization of housing, communal apartments began to be resettled; they were bought up by businessmen who needed space in the city center (as a rule, communal apartments were not located on the outskirts of the city). But even now communal apartments have not disappeared completely.

The communal apartment is an integral part of the Soviet era

In my opinion, the main reason why communal apartments are still alive is their cheapness: renting a room in a communal apartment is more profitable than renting an apartment in the same area. For example, according to the Domofond website, renting a room in a Moscow communal apartment near the Kievskaya metro station costs about 25 thousand rubles, and renting a one-room apartment in the same area costs an average of 50 thousand rubles. Because of this, some young families, in which the husband and wife are just starting a career or are still studying, find it easier to start living together in communal apartments (this is what my friends did - a young couple, he and she were senior students).

Whose communal apartment

To understand the legal component, it is necessary to clarify the issue of ownership in communal apartments. A communal apartment can be in two forms of ownership: municipal and private. In the first case, the owner is the city administration. She enters into a social tenancy agreement with the apartment residents, under which an individual or family owns and uses the room, as well as the common area in the apartment. The common territory remains “no man’s land” for the residents; they all have the same rights to it. Let us note that a social rental agreement can be concluded by certain categories of citizens (poor people, those suffering from a serious illness and those without living space), who are in line to receive such housing. If the communal apartment is registered as private property, then each tenant of the apartment is the full owner of his room, that is, he can freely not only use and own it, but also dispose of it (for example, make transactions - sell, bequeath, etc.). And the common territory belongs to all residents on the right of common shared ownership, that is, everyone has their own “piece” of the common territory. The size of this “piece” is proportional to the size of the room belonging to the tenant - the larger the room, the greater your share of the total territory (Articles 41–42 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

How to live in a communal apartment

Living in a communal apartment, you are constantly in contact with people. Taking this into account, you have to adapt to this “communal society” and follow some rules in order to avoid unnecessary conflicts with neighbors.

The main thing is to treat your neighbors with respect and humanity. Then it will be possible to avoid (or reduce - people are different) the number of disagreements, more successfully negotiate some everyday issues, and simply live peacefully.

About rights and obligations in general terms

In Russian law, there is such a legal document as “Rules for the use of residential premises” (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of January 21, 2006 N 25). It also applies to residents of communal apartments. You can also learn about your rights and responsibilities from the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

Basic rights:

use your room and the common area of the communal apartment;
if you are the owner of a room, then you can freely dispose of it - do whatever you want with it (within the legal framework and within reason, of course) - sell, mortgage, donate, etc. If you use the room under a social contract. rental, then your ability to manage is limited: you can only exchange the room (for a similar one in the same area, and the person with whom you exchange must also own the room under a social rental agreement) and sublet it.

Main responsibilities:

respect the rights of your neighbors;
pay utilities and rent on time;
maintain your room in good condition, make repairs (for those living under a social tenancy agreement; for owners, repairs are optional).

Now separately about some significant points.

Silent mode

Specific hours when making noise is prohibited (and you can be fined for making noise) are established separately in each Russian region. Information about the quiet regime in your region can be found on the Internet. But in any case, the noise from ten in the evening until the morning is unlikely to please anyone (including your neighbors).

Smoking

The legislation does not directly prohibit smoking in communal apartments. However, Article 12 of the Federal Law “On protecting the health of citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke” provides for a ban on “smoking in elevators and common areas of apartment buildings.” Based on this, by analogy, lawyers conclude that smoking is also prohibited in the common areas of communal apartments. The room is considered a personal space, and no one will prohibit smoking there. But in any case, it is better to immediately agree with your neighbors about smoking.

Guests

There is no ban on receiving guests, including if they are going to stay with you for several days. Guests even have the right to use common areas on an equal basis with all residents. But when inviting guests, remember the rules regarding quiet smoking.

Pets

It is not prohibited to have animals in a communal apartment. But you need to take into account that the animal should not interfere with the neighbors’ lives (for example, meow throughout the entire corridor at night). It is also worth finding out if any of your neighbors have medical contraindications for using animals. If so, then you will have to take into account the opinion of such a neighbor when deciding whether to get a pet.

You can have pets, but they should not disturb the neighbors

Use of common areas

All residents of a communal apartment can equally use the common areas. You can place furniture in the hallway or leave some things (a baby stroller, for example), but you shouldn’t turn it into a warehouse. Cleanliness and order in common areas is the concern of the entire communal apartment. How to support them - you need to agree: draw up a duty schedule or decide that everyone will clean up after themselves.

The kitchen in the communal apartment is a common area. which every resident uses

Repair of the common area

If the entire communal apartment is private property, then the responsibility for repairs falls on the owners of the rooms. After all, as we remember, they own not only the room, but also a piece of the common territory, which means they must take care of it too. But since it is impossible to separate a piece of the kitchen or toilet that each owner will repair, the contribution to the repair is expressed in monetary form. The larger your room, the greater your share in the total area of the communal apartment, the greater should be your contribution to the repair and maintenance of common property (Article 43 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

If the communal apartment consists of rooms rented out under a social tenancy agreement, then the situation is somewhat more complicated. After all, then the apartment belongs to the city authorities, and therefore they must take care of the repair of the communal apartment. Renters of rooms even have the right to demand that they repair and properly maintain common property (tenants are required to repair their own rooms themselves). But it is not always possible to wait for the authorities to act. Therefore, if you want to live in a cozy apartment, you will have to negotiate among yourself and rely on your own strength.

Is it possible to rent out a room?

Yes, you can. The owner of the room can rent out the room freely, because he has the right to dispose of it as he pleases. The owner of a room under a social tenancy agreement can rent out the room under a sublease agreement (essentially a lease). To do this, it is necessary to obtain the written consent of the local authorities, whose property the room is located, and the consent of all residents of the communal apartment.

Also, the owner of the room has the right to accommodate temporary residents for a period of no more than six months (the case when relatives or friends came to stay).

Payment of utility services

The law obliges all owners and users of residential premises to pay utility bills. When you live in your own apartment, the question of who should pay does not arise. But a communal apartment is several different families, and therefore it has its own nuances.

According to Article 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the fee depends on how much electricity, water, and gas you consume according to meter readings. You can't just measure the amount of heat consumed. Therefore, the easiest way for each resident of a communal apartment is to install their own water, gas, and electricity meters, and to agree on the amount of payment for heat. If for some reason residents do not want to install meters, then they can enter into an agreement among themselves regarding the payment of all the listed benefits, determining whether the amount of contributions will depend on the size of the room or on the number of people living in it. If there are no individual meters, and an agreement cannot be reached, then the law will tell you how much to pay. Payment for water and gas depends on the number of people in the room, payment for heat depends on how much space your family occupies in the communal apartment (room area + proportional share of the total area), payment for electricity depends on the readings of the general apartment meter, taking into account the number of people in the communal apartment. .

Residents of communal apartments are also required to pay rent. Its size is proportional to the space occupied by the family in the communal apartment.

Article 155 of the Housing Code requires paying for living space and utilities by the tenth day of the next month.

Categories of residents

Two types of citizens can live in such dwellings.
The first includes the owners. Such citizens act as direct owners of premises in communal apartments. Their rights are extensive. They can not only live in the rooms they own, but also rent them out. Owners may register other persons in their premises for a temporary or permanent period. Owners have the right to freely sell, donate, exchange and inherit such living space. The second type of tenants are tenants. Their rights are significantly limited. They can only live in rooms. With the consent of the owner and other tenants, tenants have the opportunity to move other people in with them (subletting). Tenants do not have the right to sell living space. They also cannot pass it on by inheritance.

Own room in a communal apartment

The main advantage of modern communal apartments, unlike Soviet ones, is that they can be privatized, that is, registered as private property. The rules on how to do this are contained in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, Law of the Russian Federation dated July 4, 1991 N 1541–1 “On the privatization of the housing stock.” According to the legal definition,

“privatization of residential premises is the free transfer into the ownership of citizens of the Russian Federation on a voluntary basis of residential premises occupied by them in the state and municipal housing stock.”
Article 1 of the Law of the Russian Federation of July 4, 1991 N 1541–1 “On the privatization of housing stock”

That is, privatization is characterized by the fact that it is free and voluntary.

You can only privatize the premises in which you live legally (for example, on the basis of a social tenancy agreement). The law prohibits the privatization of premises recognized as unsafe.

Privatization must be distinguished from a purchase, because you are privatizing municipal property (and it becomes private), but you are buying private property (one private property has passed into another - the owner has changed). In addition, we repeat, privatization of housing, unlike purchase, is free.

The procedure for privatizing a room in a communal apartment

Collect the necessary documents:
a social tenancy agreement under which you received the right to live in a room,
order to move into a room (original or copy obtained from the archive),
certificates from the management company: about the number of people living in the room, about the absence of arrears in payments (rent, utilities),
technical documents for the apartment and room (plan, technical passport), which can be obtained from the BTI,
a certificate stating that you have never participated in privatization (privatization of housing by your family when you were a minor does not count).
To write an application. Its form is established by city authorities. An application is written by each adult living in the room, or one application is written, which is signed by all adult residents.
Submit an application and a package of documents to the municipal authorities (city administration). They will tell you which department to contact. There is no “single recipe” here, because the structure of government bodies in each municipality is individual.
Waiting for the municipality's decision. Its bodies may agree to privatization, or they may refuse. In this case, you can appeal such a decision in court (if you are morally and financially prepared for the trial).
If the decision is positive, privatization will be carried out, that is, the conclusion of a residential premises transfer agreement between you and the local government bodies that own the communal apartment. The fact of privatization is confirmed by this agreement.
Registration of your acquired property rights to residential premises. To do this, after concluding the contract, you need to contact the nearest branch of Rosreestr with all the documents for the room, the agreement for the transfer of residential premises, a passport and a receipt for payment of the state duty. Within seven working days, Rosreestr will enter information about privatization and your rights into the Unified State Register of Real Estate. To register, you can also contact the MFC, where they will accept your documents and transfer them to Rosreestr (if you don’t want to go there yourself), but this will take a little longer (up to nine working days).

Please note that the social contract hiring at the time of contacting the municipality must be edited if the composition of the family has changed. Let’s say that five years ago the spouses entered into an agreement, during which time they had a child, but information about him was not included in the agreement. In this case, they may be denied privatization. The same applies to deceased family members, information about whom was initially recorded in the contract.

Selling a room in a communal apartment

You can only sell the room that is your private property. Remember also that when you sell a room, you are also selling your share in the public area of the communal apartment.

According to the law, the owners of the remaining rooms have the pre-emptive right to purchase a room - your neighbors in a communal apartment who have privatized their rooms, and the municipality that provides rooms to one of your neighbors under a social contract. rental (Article 42 of the Housing and 250 Civil Codes). This means that before looking for buyers “on the side,” you are obliged to notify neighbors and (or) the municipality about the sale of the room in writing, indicating the price (it’s better to do this by mail, sending registered letters with acknowledgment of receipt - just in case litigation you will have evidence). Then you will have to wait one month for their decision. If everyone refuses the purchase, which is also documented in writing, or ignores the offer, then anyone can buy the room. If you sell the room without notifying the other owners of the communal apartment, then one of them, through the court, may declare the transaction illegal and become the buyer instead of the “alien” applicant you have chosen.

Once a buyer has been found, the purchase and sale agreement must be drawn up in writing. Please note that you will have to sell the room at a price not lower than the one you indicated in the notice to other owners. Otherwise, they have the right to go to court to have the transaction declared invalid. After concluding the contract, you and the buyer need to contact the nearest branch of Rosreestr in order to register the transfer of ownership from you to the new owner. To do this you will need documents:

passports;
contract of sale;
documents confirming your ownership of the room;
technical plan for the room (obtain from BTI);
a certificate from the management company confirming that there are no arrears in rent and utility bills;
a certificate stating that no one is registered in the room;
a copy of the notice to your neighbors, postal notifications of delivery of letters to them;
written refusals of the owners to purchase (issued by a notary or directly at Rosreestr).

If you use the room on the basis of a rental or social tenancy agreement, then it belongs to the municipality and its sale, accordingly, is impossible. But users under a social contract. renters have the right to exchange their room for another that belongs to someone under the same social contract. rental in the same locality (Article 72 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

Life in a communal apartment goes on as usual