Apartment buildings may have different layouts, but almost every project includes a certain number of technical premises.
Some of them are necessary for maintaining the house, others can serve the residents themselves as utility rooms and storage rooms. Typically, utility rooms are located in the basement of a building or on staircase landings. The basement space in an apartment building is spacious; its area can accommodate many compact storage rooms that will be used by apartment owners to store a variety of things.
But can, by law, a storage room in the basement of an apartment building belong to the residents? For what purposes is such a room used, are there any restrictions on its use?
The storage room, like other rooms or premises in an apartment building, cannot be used for storing explosive, flammable, or other dangerous substances and objects. The safety of living in the house depends on the responsibility of all residents, on how well they comply with the rules of residence.
Purpose
A large number of apartments, including those in new buildings, have limited space. And for a family, regardless of the number of its members, there is always not enough storage space. Therefore, storage rooms in new buildings and other houses are always necessary and in demand.
If residents have the opportunity to design a utility room for themselves, they will never refuse such an opportunity. The utility room can be registered for use by decision of the general meeting; it is also possible to rent a utility room.
What purpose can a storage room be used for? Such a room has a small area, but it can be rational and practical:
- You can store sports equipment in the pantry.
- Food.
- Sport equipment.
- Remains of building materials after repairs, etc.
It is only important that the stored property is not toxic, flammable, or dangerous due to other characteristics. The storage room, utility room, which is located in the basement, is common property of the house.
How the utility rooms in the basement will be used is decided by the general meeting of residents. Sometimes in a building where the ground floor apartments may not have balconies, storage rooms are given to their residents for use. They are also distributed among all apartments.
ATTENTION! According to housing legislation, residents of the first floor have no advantages regarding the basement.
Article 44 (Part 2) of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation determines the procedure for distributing common property between residents of an apartment building, including basement utility rooms. If you need to get the use of a storage room, you need to initiate a general meeting or ask the house manager about it.
At a general meeting of residents, the question is raised about whether it is possible for residents of a particular apartment to use the utility room in the basement. If the majority is not against it, this important issue can be considered resolved. Perhaps the decision will be negative, in which case the utility rooms will not be used by individual residents, but by everyone together .
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Requirements for the equipment of storage rooms in apartment buildings
A storage room in apartment buildings and private homes is recognized as an auxiliary room intended for storing food, equipment, raw materials and various household utensils. If in their apartment or private house the owners can arrange such premises as they wish, then there are serious restrictions in common areas (on staircases and in basements) .
The basic acts regulating the procedure for arranging storage rooms are:
- SanPiN 2.1.2.2645-10, approved by Decree of the Chief Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation No. 64 dated June 10, 2010. In accordance with this act, the organization of storage rooms inside apartment buildings is allowed, but with reservations. The room must have a separate entrance, and its dimensions cannot exceed 3 sq.m. per person. Only fruits, vegetables and solid fuels are allowed to be stored inside.
- SNiP 01/31/2003. According to this document, it is allowed to place storage rooms between the first and third floors, but a strict ban is imposed on the storage of combustible and flammable substances.
In the spaces under the stairs on the first floors, which seem so convenient, it is impossible to equip storage rooms . The restrictions are due to the fact that on the ground floor there are important communication nodes necessary to ensure the normal life of the owners
How is the area distributed?
For some time, high-rise buildings with wheelchairs on the ground floor were built. What is a stroller? This is a separate room for storing baby strollers belonging to the residents of the house.
But the utility room is used for this purpose in rare cases. More often, the inventory of technical workers servicing the house is stored there. This room can be used for the work of HOA employees, because you need to store documents, equipment, and other things somewhere.
The storage rooms in the house belong to all apartment owners; how to use them is decided by the general team. The area near such premises should not be littered, cluttered with building materials or old belongings of apartment owners - passages to emergency exits and garbage chutes should be clear.
ATTENTION! You should not arrange the storage room at your own discretion and use it for your own purposes.
In this case, the meeting of owners has every right to decide to vacate the technical premises, and even through the court it will not be possible to defend the storage room.
Features of placing storage rooms on stairs and in basements
Subject to all approvals, the storage room can be placed anywhere in the entrance except the first floor. In most cases, residents try to arrange storage facilities in stairwells. But such a storage room should not impede the passage of other people to their apartments, the elevator and the garbage chute, and also prevent the doors from opening.
The privatization of storerooms located in entrances also has its own nuances. Even if the situation arises that the premises are used by one person, it will not be possible to make it your personal property. When considering the issue of legalizing a storage room on the stairs, we can only talk about obtaining permission to refurbish common areas, as well as compliance with sanitation and fire safety standards. In this case, we are not talking about the privatization of the storage room.
The issue of building storage rooms in basements is also being considered in a special way. Since the land under the house and the basement are the common property of all residents, it is theoretically possible to obtain the approval of neighbors, draw up a redevelopment project and equip a storage facility in the basement.
But in practice all this is of little use. The fact is that the basements of apartment buildings have their own specifics. As a rule, they house heating and pumping equipment. If you open access to the basement to everyone, there is a risk that this equipment will be damaged, and almost nothing can be stored in basements. Therefore, it may happen that the owner will waste time and money, and as a result he will be denied a permit or fined for violating fire safety standards.
Sale
There is a possibility of purchasing a utility room as a property. Under what conditions is such an operation possible, since the entire area of the house is the property of the apartment residents?
- If the storage room was purchased with an apartment on the principle of co-investment, then the owner can sell it at his own discretion. In this case, the consent of other residents of the apartment building is not required.
- First of all, it is necessary to distinguish the concepts of storage rooms from the common property of apartment building residents. What is the common property of the house? According to the law, it includes those premises that are not part of the apartment and are used to service more than one room in the building.
Such property includes stairs, attics, elevators, and basements. But pantries are not included in this concept. This rule applies to houses sold under an equity participation agreement.
Residential premises are sold according to the DDU, and non-residential premises are also sold according to it. An apartment can be purchased together with non-residential premises under a co-investment agreement, as a result of which the sale of such property is possible.
On a note
In the fall of 2021, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, in case No. A56-75945/2018, indicated that the management organization is not the proper addressee of the order, which concerns the reconstruction of the common areas of the apartment building. If the work was carried out without permits, the obligation to restore the premises to its previous condition rests with the person who unauthorizedly rebuilt it.
It should be taken into account that in this case the inspection was carried out by the State Housing Authority, and the management organization many times tried to oblige the owners to bring public places to their original condition, in accordance with the project documentation. In case of violations of fire safety rules, the courts were more categorical and ordered the management authority to eliminate them using methods available to it. They did not take into account the company’s argument that the reorganization was carried out by the owners by decision of the OSS.
Management organizations and homeowners associations must carefully approach inspections of the common property of the house and not allow owners to unauthorizedly rebuild the premises. In this case, conflicts may arise with residents of the apartment complex. On June 22, Susana Kirakosyan will tell you what to do in such a situation and how to protect the common property of the house at our online seminar. Hurry up to register for the event.
Advantages
A city apartment always seems cramped, regardless of its size. Every year you live in it, the number of things and the requirements for comfort grow.
Nowadays, in many apartments, wardrobes have replaced wardrobes; there is also a need for separate offices. And therefore, even a compact room that can accommodate many household items seems priceless.
Developers of new areas note the interest of apartment buyers in various utility rooms. This could not help but affect the design of residential complexes.
And, as real estate experts note, by the time the house is put into delivery, there are practically no free storage rooms left in it that have not been purchased by the residents . In the utility room you can store a bicycle or motorcycle.
Quite often, utility rooms are designed with a separate exit to the street, located at the ground floor level.
And if the designers of new apartment buildings solve the problem of storage rooms in new apartment buildings, then in older buildings the situation is different. Apartments were privatized or purchased without utility rooms; it is impossible to buy part of the common property.
Only at a general meeting is the issue of distribution of utility rooms in the basement, on the ground floor, and on staircases resolved. If residents can unite and consider the issue calmly, without emotions, a compromise decision can also be made.
IMPORTANT! In new buildings, as in older homes, the closet cannot be used for purposes other than storage.
These premises are not suitable to become a laundry or a store. In new buildings, other specially designed areas are allocated for such purposes. If you still want to set up a workshop in your storage room, for example, you need to coordinate this issue with the administration and consider safety requirements.
Where to apply for permission to set up a storage room?
The first thing to be done to arrange a storage room in the entrance is to initiate a general meeting of owners. Approval for reconstruction must be given by at least two-thirds of the residents (not only of a specific entrance, but of the entire house). This rule is established in clause 3, part 2, article 44 of the RF LC, as well as part 1, article 45 of the RF LC.
Based on the results of the procedure, a voting protocol is drawn up. If it was not possible to reach an understanding with the neighbors, you will have to do without a storage room, otherwise the building will be considered a squatter. It is also necessary to take into account that tenants who are dissatisfied with the general decision have the right to challenge it in court
At the meeting, a decision may be made on the use of the common property of the apartment building on a reimbursable basis. Then the tenant claiming square meters in the entrance will have to pay a certain amount for such use. As for monthly utility bills for a storage room, they are usually charged only if electricity or water is supplied to the premises.
But deciding to make a pantry and getting the consent of your neighbors is not enough. It is also necessary to agree on the procedure in the following authorities:
- Technical Inventory Bureau.
- Fire inspection.
These bodies must necessarily approve any changes to the plan of an apartment building. Upon completion of the redevelopment, their specialists make adjustments to the technical documentation. If approval requirements are ignored, not only the owner, but also the HOA or management company can be fined.
