How to allocate shares? What about in a communal apartment?

If you are interested in how to become the owner of not a share, but a room in an apartment, just type in a search engine the phrase “partition of apartment shared ownership.” For this phrase, the search engine will find you millions of pages with similar information (Yandex, for example, finds more than two million). It is difficult to obtain the necessary information from this multitude.

Here we will describe in detail and clearly the procedure for allocating a share in an apartment, how a share in common property differs from a share in a communal apartment, and what to do correctly in the event of selling a share in a communal apartment.

Division of shares or allotment, what to do

Division of shares and allocation of shares in an apartment are slightly different concepts. The division of shares represents the termination of all owners of the apartment on their shares in the property right and the recognition of ownership of specific residential premises in the apartment. At the same time, common areas (hallway, kitchen, bathroom) remain in common shared ownership.

Article 252 of the Civil Code regulates the division and allocation of shares.

The division of shares can occur by agreement of all co-owners, for example, in a three-room apartment, three co-owners each have a third share in the right. After the division, everyone will become the owner of a specific room, which on the technical plan is under a specific letter, and the owner of a third share in the right to common property, which are common areas and common property in an apartment building.

For reference. The allocation of a share assumes that one or more premises will become the property of the allocated joint shareholder, and the remaining premises will remain in common shared ownership.

If an agreement is not reached, and you want you to own a specific room in the apartment, and not a share in the right, go to court with a claim to terminate your share in the right, recognize your ownership of a specific room (or rooms) and recognize shares in the right to common property.

If the number of living rooms and their configuration corresponds to the number of shareholders, that is, allows for the allocation of a share, the court will most likely satisfy the claim. Obviously, it is impossible to allocate a share in a room or one-room apartment.

Also, you will not allocate a share in kind, since the apartment does not have the technical ability to allocate in kind, because to allocate in kind means separating a specific room from others and equipping a separate entrance.

Of course, the rooms cannot be exactly the same - they have different areas, one of the rooms may have access to a balcony, so the cost of the rooms is different. When dividing or allocating shares, the owner of the larger room must pay compensation to the remaining co-owners in the amount of the difference in the prices of the rooms.

For reference. Owning a share in an apartment differs from owning a share in a communal apartment.

What additional support measures will program participants receive?

Participants in the program “Resettlement of communal apartments in St. Petersburg” can count on assistance from the city in the form of:

providing priority rights to participate in other targeted housing programs in St. Petersburg; attracting funds from legal entities (individuals) participating in the program to the resettlement; transfer to program participants under purchase and sale agreements of vacated residential premises (rooms) in communal apartments on the terms and in the manner established by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and the Law of St. Petersburg dated April 5, 2006 No. 169-27 “On the procedure and conditions for the sale of residential premises of public housing Foundation of St. Petersburg".

The hackneyed phrase “communal apartment.” What kind of apartment is this?

To date, such a concept as a “communal apartment” is not legally defined. We “inherited” communal apartments from the “resettlement” that took place in the 20s and 30s, when they took away “extra” space and moved different families into separate apartments. This was done by the house committees. Remember Shvonder and him?

Some idea of what a communal apartment is can only be given by some regional regulations. For example, such an act is the target program “Resettlement of communal apartments in St. Petersburg.” Here, a communal apartment is defined as an apartment consisting of five or more rooms, in which five or more owners live, who are not members of the same family, and the ownership rights of each of them were acquired under a separate agreement from the others.

Based on this, a communal apartment has the following distinctive features:

different families live in such an apartment and pay utilities using their own personal accounts (that is, personal accounts for the apartment are divided);
each family owns a certain room by right of ownership or by social lease, and common areas are in shared ownership;
each family (or tenant) became the owner of a room under a separate agreement, independent of other tenants (for example, one bought a room, another inherited it, the third is a tenant under a social tenancy agreement, since his share is not privatized).

For reference. Shared ownership in a communal apartment occurs when the owner, although he lives in a specific room, has only a registered share in the right to the apartment.

If you intend to sell your share in the right to a communal apartment, please note that the sale of a share in the right is different from the sale of property.

Room donation agreement form

A deed of gift for any piece of real estate is drawn up in writing, because the document will be required for subsequent state registration of the donee’s property rights. Notarization is usually not necessary, but when alienating shares, the signature of a notary is always required, and the parties sign in his presence.

In addition to the usual (real) contract, the donor has the right to draw up a consensual agreement - a contract of promise of gift, according to which the real estate can be transferred to himself only upon the occurrence of a specific date or event: the recipient receives a diploma, wedding, etc.

The conditions for the commencement of execution of the contract are determined by the donor, but the consent of the donee is also required: on the basis of Art. 573 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, he can refuse the transaction at any time before receiving the gift.

How to correctly draw up a donation agreement for a share of an apartment and avoid mistakes?

Is giving by proxy possible and what are the risks for the donor? Deal Features

Sale of a share in a communal apartment. Nuances

To sell your share in a communal apartment, firstly, it must be privatized and the share in the right must be registered, and secondly, you need to take into account that there is a pre-emptive right to purchase. If everything is clear with the first condition, we will analyze the second condition in detail.

Article 250 of the Civil Code warns that before looking for a buyer for your share, you are obliged to offer to buy it out to the other owners of the apartment. This must be done in writing. The best evidence that you have not violated the pre-emptive right to purchase will be a postal notice with either “refuse to receive”, which was returned to you from the co-sharers’ addressees. Accordingly, you must send the purchase offer by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.

For reference. Remember that the owner of a non-privatized share is not the one who lives in it, but the municipality, and therefore the proposal in this case must be sent directly to the property relations committee.

Selling a share if your child is registered in the apartment is possible only with permission for the sale from the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

It will also be necessary to obtain written consent to sell your better half if the share was acquired during marriage.

In conclusion, it is worth recalling:

Shared ownership assumes a quick division of an apartment if all shareholders agree;
in case of disagreement, the share can be allocated through the court;
The owners of the remaining shares have the right to buy a share in a communal apartment, first of all.

Alternative optionGet your neighbors' refusal

In order not to wait for the expiration of a month for a response from your neighbors, you can get them to refuse to buy a room in a communal apartment.

Such a refusal must be certified by a notary. The certificate will cost approximately 1,500 RUR. The notary fee is 500 RUR, but the notary’s technical work is paid on top.

If one of the owners of the rooms is a minor, then it is also necessary to obtain permission to waive the preemptive right from the guardianship and trusteeship authority. This is a formality that will have to be observed in order for the notary to certify the refusal.

When buying a room with a mortgage, banks most often ask that the neighbors refuse to buy it, or that a notary sends a notice. Therefore, let the buyer check with his bank in advance what his requirements are.

If you can't, but really want to

Look for compromises between desires and possibilities - compatible and inconsistent. A spacious room can be zoned with partitions, dividing it into guest and sleeping areas. Coordination will not be required if these are collapsible (temporary) partitions that do not reach the ceiling.

Without approval from neighbors and officials, you can designate the hallway and kitchen corner in the same way - with a microwave and electric kettle. But you will have to cook and wash dishes in a shared kitchen (agree with your neighbors about repairs to common property).

The same applies to sleeping space under the ceiling. According to Russian laws, such mezzanines in communal apartments must be temporary and dismountable. True, not all communal apartments can boast 3.5 m ceilings, and with a lower height, residential mezzanines are not the best option.

LEGAL: refreshing renovation

Step 1. Dismantling

To get rid of the characteristic odors of an old apartment, it usually has to be stripped down to the concrete and brick (the latter can sometimes serve as interior decoration). The most expensive component of renovating a room in a communal apartment is the floors (be sure to get rid of debris in the space between the joists, under the joists).

Tip: Changing the floor, if you do not affect the beams, does not require approval. But, firstly, inform your neighbors below about the upcoming renovation. Secondly, agree with representatives of the management company and together take photographs of the condition of the ceilings in the lower apartment. After all, it may turn out that they have long since cracked and crumbled (and there is no need to repair them later at your expense). If the neighbors won’t let you in, that’s also great, record this fact in the deed.

Step 2: Replacing the door

Unlike an ordinary apartment door, your door should be lightweight (since it is mounted not in a solid wall, but in a partition), have good soundproofing properties, have a door peephole and a hermetically sealed sealing circuit - to protect against the penetration of “household” odors.

Fact: According to fire safety requirements, metal entrance doors must open outward. But this is in apartments. If we are talking about a communal apartment and a narrow corridor, choose a door that opens inward.

Step 3: Soundproofing and ventilation

In a spacious room with massive walls and high ceilings, it is much easier to make high-quality sound insulation than in a typical “panel”. If there are noisy neighbors upstairs, the ceiling in the old building can be easily “lowered” by 10–15 cm to increase noise insulation and hide communications.

Privatization objects

Law No. 1541-1 (Article 4) defines the categories of residential premises that cannot be the subject of privatization.

The following objects are not permitted to be transferred into ownership:

living space transferred for the duration of work duties;
premises in houses officially recognized as unsafe (read more about which houses are considered unsafe);
dorm rooms;
housing located on the territory of closed military settlements;
objects located in environmental zones.

In some cases, the transfer of official housing is allowed (for example, to employees with extensive work experience).

Read: how to privatize a service apartment?

It is possible to privatize premises in dilapidated buildings if the building has not received the official status of “emergency”.

Rights of owners of shared ownership

The legislation determines what exactly the owner can do with his share:

own;
dispose of;
exploit.

The main condition is that the implementation of rights does not affect the interests of other parties. Therefore, the disposal of real estate in shared ownership is possible only with the consent of other shareholders.

Sales and rentals will be possible only with the consent of other shareholders. An exception is donation, which allows you to transfer the area to another person without obtaining consent from the co-owners.

To draw up a will to transfer a share, consent from the co-owners is not required. This rule is based on Article 1119 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. If the will does not indicate what share will go to each of the heirs, then the property is divided into equal parts.

Despite the fact that the law does not establish a restriction on the use of a share of an apartment as collateral, banking institutions do not accept such property. The reason is the difficulty of compensating for losses through fractional ownership.

What are the dangers of illegal redevelopment?

In short, financial losses (indirect and direct).

As a resident of St. Petersburg, well acquainted with the realities of the local real estate market, I will say: illegal (unapproved) redevelopment is by no means an obstacle to buying, selling, or renting. Lately, even mortgage banks have turned a blind eye to minor violations. But an illegal “apartment within an apartment” can only be sold for the price of a share (of a room), even if it is well renovated.

The most unpleasant case is a court decision ordering the premises with illegal redevelopment to be restored to their original condition. Moreover, the initiators of court decisions on this matter are most often the neighbors - below and to the side. Even if you are friends with the current ones, it is not a fact that your solution to the housing issue will suit the new ones. Owners and residents change frequently here, and each new one is a source of increased risk).

And one more thing: Many ancient buildings themselves are not in the best condition. Redevelopment with violations accelerates the deterioration of building structures and can lead to emergency conditions. And of course, in the event of an emergency, owners of apartments with illegal alterations almost always turn out to be “extreme”.