Use of non-residential premises - law on basements in an apartment building 2021

Legal regime for the use of non-residential premises

The basement of a residential building is common property; theoretically, it belongs to everyone who owns apartments in this building, and these people can use it. But since it is in the basement that communications take place, this cannot be done at one’s own will and discretion; a number of conditions must be met (for example, things should not come into contact with pipes in any way), as well as permission. To get it, you need to act together with the management company.

Important!

The new fire safety rules state that basements and basements cannot be used for other purposes than their intended purpose. In practice, this means that residents cannot arbitrarily organize storage rooms and premises for other purposes in the basements - only if they agree on such use of the premises, and appropriate changes are made to the documentation for the house.

How to make non-residential premises residential

In addition to documents confirming the voting of the owners of premises in the apartment building (if their consent was required), to apply for the provision of public services you must provide:

inventory of documents according to form;
identification document of the applicant (copy of all pages - when contacted by the applicant’s representative);
an identification document of the applicant’s representative and a document confirming the authority of the representative - if the documents will not be submitted by the owner of the premises;
title documents for the premises being transferred, if the rights to it are not registered in the Unified State Register of Real Estate or the rights to it were registered before January 31, 1998 and are not at the disposal of the City Property Department (originals or notarized copies);
a project for the reconstruction and (or) redevelopment of the transferred premises, if the reconstruction/redevelopment is required to recognize the premises as residential;
accounting and technical documentation for the premises as of the date of the last survey conducted no more than 5 years ago (originals);
floor plan of the house in which the transferred premises are located (floor plans of all floors in the house), as of the date of the last survey carried out no more than 5 years ago (originals);
conclusions of authorized organizations on the compliance of the transferred non-residential premises with the requirements for residential premises (originals):
from an organization that carries out technical accounting and technical inventory of capital construction projects;
from an organization accredited to carry out sanitary and epidemiological examinations, investigations, surveys and other types of assessments (if there is a positive conclusion on the said conclusion from the Office of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare in the city of Moscow);
from an organization accredited to conduct an examination of design documentation and engineering survey results.

If the owner of the transferred premises is a minor, you will also need a birth certificate or a document issued in the prescribed manner confirming the fact of the birth and registration of the child, if it is issued by the competent authorities of a foreign state.

If the owners of the transferred premises are several persons, the request is sent by one of the owners:

with the presentation of a power of attorney confirming the authority to represent the interests of the remaining owners of the premises (consent to the provision of public services, to the processing of personal data). In this case, a single set of documents is attached to the request;
in the absence of a power of attorney, the consent of the owner of the individual can be obtained in electronic form using mos.ru if you have full access to the “personal account” subsystem of the portal.

Consent for minor children under 14 years of age and incapacitated/partially capable citizens is provided by their legal representatives. Minors who have reached the age of 14 act with the consent of their legal representatives.

Is it possible to store things in basements and common areas? And how to turn a basement into a storage room?

The first step is to hold a collective meeting of residents, at which a decision is made on the use of the basement (ground floor) as a place to store residents’ personal belongings. At the same time, all initiators must understand that they will have to invest financially, because any re-equipment will be carried out at the expense of the residents themselves.

If such a decision is made, it is necessary, together with the management company, to prepare a redevelopment plan and obtain permission for redevelopment (for example, in Moscow - from the Moscow Housing Inspectorate).

To draw up a redevelopment plan, it is necessary to conduct an engineering survey of the basement, which will confirm the good condition of communications and the possibility of equipping a separate room for use as a storage room. A redevelopment project can be ordered from a design organization that works with an SRO certificate.

Important!

The process of remodeling a basement is labor-intensive and costly. Therefore, there is a great temptation to unauthorizedly rebuild the basement and use it in the interests of the residents. But you can’t do this! Uncoordinated changes will be easily detected by utility employees. Those responsible will be forced to pay an administrative fine and return the premises to their original appearance.

If you go through the approval procedure and do everything according to the law, you can safely use the new storage rooms without fear that the very first inspection will nullify all your efforts.

Premises without a separate entrance - a separate property

To begin with, we note that a room is a part of the volume of a building or structure that has a specific purpose (residential, non-residential) and is limited by building structures.

With regard to premises, it is legally established that registration with the state cadastral register is not allowed if:

the premises are not isolated or separated from other premises in the building or structure (except for parking spaces) (clause 34 of part 1 of Article 26 No. 218-FZ);
there is a complete or partial coincidence of the location of the premises with the location of another premises, with the exception of the object being converted, as well as a coincidence of the location of the apartment and the room in it (clause 50 of part 1 of Article 26 No. 218-FZ).

The court in its ruling considers the question of whether part of the premises without a separate entrance a separate piece of real estate.

The tenant of a municipal property applied for preemption. However, the administration twice refused to conclude a purchase and sale agreement, citing the fact that it was not possible to privatize this premises, since it was not an independent piece of real estate.

After this, the tenant went to court. The first instance declared the refusal to complete this transaction illegal. The appeal upheld the administration's decision. The rented part of the non-residential premises cannot be purchased on a preferential basis, since it is not formed as a separate real estate object and is not registered in the cadastral register. There is an entrance only through the adjacent room.

The cassation court did not agree with the appeal. The disputed object is separated by building structures, has its own number in the technical passport, and, therefore, is isolated.

“The courts of the first and appellate instances established that the disputed premises are part of a non-residential premises, in accordance with the technical passport of which the specified premises are limited by existing building structures, have an entrance through an adjacent premises, and are indicated on the technical passport with its own number. Thus, the courts established the isolation of the disputed non-residential premises.

In relation to the provisions of Articles 26 and 27 of Law No. 218-FZ, the sign of isolation of the premises is mandatory for the implementation of state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights. Meanwhile, the current legislation does not connect the qualification of a property as separate and isolated with the presence of an entrance independent of other premises.

Such a sign of an isolated premises, such as a separate entrance, indicates the possibility of excluding access to the premises by the owners of other premises, that is, the absence of a passage value/function/character for the premises, the possibility of access to other premises without using the premises in question (letter from the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation dated December 24, 2013 N OG-D23-6667 and N D23i-6062)".

Accordingly, the conclusion of the court of first instance about the illegality of the administration’s refusal to exercise the entrepreneur’s right to privatize the above-mentioned property is lawful.

You can read the full text of the resolution on our website.

Photo: iStock.com

Advertising material was created with the support of the “Center for Entrepreneurship of the Orenburg Region”.

Are there storage rooms in the basements, but they don’t give you space?

In new housing stock, basements are often immediately equipped in such a way that residents can store their personal belongings in separate rooms. But here you may encounter another difficulty: often new residents do not get a storage room, because “everything has long been distributed among those who moved in earlier.” This is a violation of your rights! All residents have an equal right to use the common property. And if the composition of the residents has changed, the rules by which meters in the basement are distributed may also change.

To achieve justice, it is necessary to initiate a general meeting of residents, and at it to review the conditions for the use of common property. If those previously living in the house contributed their own funds to furnishing the basement, newcomers may be asked to contribute certain amounts.

If an amicable agreement cannot be reached, you can file a complaint with the management company.

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 .

You may also be interested in: Which floor is the most comfortable to live in?

When investments in a non-residential fund will not bring the desired income

Over the past few years, many people wishing to earn income from renting out non-residential premises have been burned by charging high prices for places with little traffic. Plus, the abundance of shopping and office centers that have appeared are much more attractive to tenants. Due to the developed infrastructure, the presence of cafes and children's rooms, the entrepreneur is provided with traffic.

Many people think that non-residential premises are attractive for chain businesses, but grocery chains are interested in large areas with a separate exit, equipped with ramps and parking for trucks. This option for using non-residential property is not suitable for small premises.

Before changing the status of the purchased apartment, you should calculate all the possibilities and risks.

Making a profit from the use of non-residential stock in residential buildings directly depends on the area in which it is located.

Transport accessibility is important; the greatest demand is for shops and offices, past which pedestrians walk to a metro station or bus stop. In remote areas, investments in such facilities do not always pay off. For example, in new buildings, where the first floors are allocated for non-residential premises and there is no need to transfer the premises to non-residential premises, in half of the cases they remain unclaimed.

Is there a penalty for registration?

Residential premises are characterized by the presence of citizens registered in them.

Registration is a legal attachment to the place of residence. There are permanent and temporary registrations. Today there is a lot of controversy about the need for the institution of registration in general. Many believe that this is an atavism of the Soviet Union. However, today registration is an important element in housing legislation. Having a residence permit greatly simplifies the everyday life of citizens.

Registration in non-residential premises, both temporary and permanent, is prohibited . No official will accept an application for this action. There is no article establishing liability for illegal registration in non-residential premises in both the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. It turns out that it is impossible to punish a person for being registered there.