Deadlines for free privatization of apartments and housing in Russia: until what year has it been extended and what will happen next?

Privatization is usually called the process of transferring the property that is in the possession of the state into personal property. The property for privatization can be anything - an apartment, a room, a non-residential premises, a plot of land.

The advantage of the procedure is the fact that the person becomes the true owner, that is, he can dispose of the property at his own discretion - sell, donate, pledge, and so on. Non-privatized property can only be used.

Previously, Rosstat authorities presented disappointing statistics regarding the fact that every fifth apartment of Russians is not privatized. This happened due to the fact that until 1992 the entire housing stock was the property of the state. Today the situation is changing, and the country's authorities are offering citizens a system of free privatization.

The program has been in effect for a very long time, its validity period is constantly being revised, so the question arises as to whether there will be free privatization of housing before March 1, 2021.

When will the privatization of housing stock in the Russian Federation be completed?

Initially, several years were allotted for privatization. Since 1991, the Government of the Russian Federation has provided Russians with the opportunity to re-register state-owned housing as personal property. But the grace period, when you can complete all stages for free, has already been extended several times. At the moment, the rule is that all citizens can undergo the procedure before the end of 2021. And until 2020 - Crimeans and residents of dilapidated real estate. The category of orphans has the right to privatize living space before the expiration of the social tenancy agreement for the housing in which the child lives.

At the current stage, Russians have managed to privatize 30 million housing units, which is 80% of the housing stock. Moreover, according to Government estimates, such a high indicator is not found almost anywhere in the world. Since the procedure cannot last indefinitely, a decision was made to set a final deadline. But news often appears in the media that privatization after a year may become permanent. At the moment there is no confirmation of such information. Therefore, no one knows what will happen next, whether it will be paid or free.

Not every living space can become personal. It is prohibited to transfer into private property:

• real estate that has been awarded museum status;
• office premises;
• living space in emergency buildings;
• real estate in protected areas;
• apartments and houses in closed military zones and facilities;
• dormitories.

Housing becomes a property free of charge, regardless of its market, cadastral or any other value. However, there will still be certain costs.

So a certificate that confirms the fact that a citizen has not previously participated in privatization procedures costs 300-500 rubles. Registration of a registration certificate for real estate - 1,500 rubles. To register the transfer of ownership, you will need to pay a state fee of 2,000 rubles. An extract from the Unified State Register will cost 200 rubles. You may have to pay for other certificates or photocopies of documents. On average, 4-4.5 thousand rubles are spent on the procedure.

What has changed after March 1, 2021 – will there be another extension?

So, the date of March 1, 2021 has passed, the arrival of which many of our compatriots were warily awaiting, but people’s fears were dispelled by legislators extending the period of free privatization for another year.

But the updated law not only added additional time for citizens to purchase their own housing, but also greatly simplified the procedure for registering state property as private.

So, now, in order to formalize denationalization, it is not necessary to obtain permission from former relatives, who are former spouses. Meanwhile, early versions of this law made it a mandatory condition to obtain consent from ex-husbands and wives registered in the same living space.

The consequence of this formulation of the law was lengthy litigation, which very often did not bring any results. Thus, today it has become even easier to apply for privatization of housing than a few years ago. However, in order to take advantage of this simplified scheme, citizens should hurry up, since the period of free privatization has been extended only until 2021, and what the further development of events will be is currently unclear.

Participants of the procedure

Participants in the real estate privatization program can become:

1. All residents who live under a social tenancy agreement in apartments or houses owned by the state or municipality. From which it follows that even minor children from infancy have the right to become full participants in the program.
2. Children under 14 years of age. But in this case, their interests are represented by their parents, adoptive parents or legal guardians.
3. Teenagers from 14 to 18 years old. Such residents have the right to represent their interests and write a statement on their own, but are required to notify the parent, adoptive parent or guardian.
4. Citizens over 18 years of age go through all stages of privatization independently. However, they must remember that if one housing has already been transferred into their ownership free of charge, then when the second property is privatized they will have to pay. But if a child took part in the procedure as a shareholder before reaching 18 years of age, he retains the right to one free privatization of state or municipal housing.
5. If a citizen was absent for objective reasons at the time of privatization of shared housing, for example, he served in the army, he has the right to receive his share when he returns.

Who has the right to free privatization of land

What types of land plots can be privatized for free and which cannot?

First of all, let's look at which land plots are subject to free privatization:

• land plots on which there are houses that were previously purchased by citizens as property before the entry into force of the Land Code of the Russian Federation until 2001;
• land plots that were transferred to citizens for rent for individual housing construction or private plots;
• land plots that were transferred to citizens on the basis of lifelong ownership;
• land plots allocated for dacha, garden or vegetable farming;
• land plots for the construction of garages.

Land plots that cannot be privatized:

• lands that were withdrawn from public circulation;
• lands that are national heritage - historical or cultural value;
• lands that belong to the strategic zone.

The right to privatization is available to the owner of a building on a given plot of land, and is also available to those whose land plots are on an indefinite lease. Free privatization is also allowed for owners of summer cottages and garden plots that are not intended for permanent residence.

It is worth noting that the heirs will not have the right to privatize these types of land plots. This can only be done by those who have been granted this municipal ownership by the state. The heirs will have to buy or rent this plot of land at the cadastral value.

Documentation for re-registration of living space

The transfer of real estate into ownership is based on the personal initiative of a Russian, his family and a package of documents. Papers should be prepared in advance so that the entire procedure goes through as quickly as possible and without repeated requests. The list includes:

• certificate in Form 3 from the management company about all registered residents;
• technical passport for real estate;
• written statements from all residents of the premises who are over 14 years old, indicating that they agree with the privatization, must sign the papers in their own hand;
• certificates of previous registrations, which indicate that this citizen has not privatized other property;
• extract from the unified state register of real estate;
• identification documents of the applicant himself and his family members - passports, birth certificates;
• certificate of marriage or divorce;
• receipts for payment of utility bills confirming the absence of debts for the previous quarter;
• state duty payment receipt.

This list can be adjusted at the request of government officials who carry out the privatization procedure.

If a citizen deliberately provides false information that he has never gone through the privatization procedure before, and the fact is revealed, he will be refused and punished. Documents that raise doubts are returned to the applicant for revision or re-registration. When preparing certificates, it is important to take into account their validity period, so that by the end of the collection of documents and at the time of submission, all are valid.

When incapacitated or minor citizens are involved in a transaction, the documents are checked with special care. If the fact of false refusals of shares is revealed, the procedure is considered void.

If illegal alterations or reconstructions were carried out in the privatization object, then they will have to be eliminated and only after that the documents must be collected.

What is the difference from paid

Why is paid privatization needed? Today in Russia there is free privatization for an indefinite period, but due to the fact that this law is changed regularly, the question arises about when paid privatization will be introduced, why and what will be the difference between paid and free?

Today the situation is as follows: the procedure for paid privatization was not established even at the time of the procedure, which began in 1992. Today, there is also no order or algorithm for carrying out this process, so experts and we can only guess.

Some believe that after the end of free privatization, paid privatization will come, but it is not clear in what order the purchase of apartments will take place.

Action steps

After collecting all the certificates and documents, the following steps await when transferring housing into personal ownership:

1. Contact the office of the multifunctional center with all papers and an application or submit an application through the State Services portal. You can make an appointment at the MFC and clarify the list of documents remotely. This will help reduce time and effort. In exchange for the package, the applicant will be given a receipt with a list of papers submitted for consideration.
2. The inspector will check the package and set a date for the meeting of the privatization commission.
3. Wait for the commission's decision. It can be accepted for a maximum of 2 months from the date of submission of documents.
4. If the result is positive, receive a document for the transfer of ownership.
5. Issue a certificate of ownership of property in Rosreestr.
6. Re-register with the BTI service.

After this, the citizen and his family become the owners of the living space. If family members refuse the share, then the applicant will be the sole owner, if not, then everyone will have a share.

Those relatives who renounced their share in the property do not become owners, but they retain the right to lifelong residence in the territory of this living space. The consent of children under 14 years of age is not required; they automatically become participants in privatization.

Russians can reduce their waiting time. To do this, you will need to pay for an urgent procedure. The cost can be determined by a realtor who will take care of all stages of preparation and collection of documents.

Reasons for extension

The authorities made this decision based on the following reasons:

• many citizens living in dilapidated and dilapidated buildings were unable to exercise their right to own housing. They will be able to use it after receiving new apartments.
• Numerous people on the waiting list will also be able to transfer ownership of their apartments after allocating them living space from the state.
• the question of extension also arose in connection and Sevastopol to Russia Residents of these regions could not register ownership of apartments, since different laws were in force in the state.
• the state of the housing market and the crisis situation in the Russian economy also became important factors influencing the Government’s decision. The abolition of free privatization will provoke social tension in the country and will primarily hit socially vulnerable categories of the Russian population.

Thanks to the Government's decision, many citizens will now be able to submit documents for privatization. Queues at government agencies will decrease, the process will speed up and become easier .

Why privatize an apartment

Housing is privatized to achieve two goals:

1. It is allowed to conduct purchase and sale transactions with personal real estate. It can also be bequeathed, donated, mortgaged, rented or exchanged.
2. You can transfer your own apartment or house from a private housing stock to a commercial one.

After privatization, citizens have additional expenses:

• property tax, while there is no such fee for state or municipal housing;
• services related to the repair and development of adjacent territories and repair work are higher for private owners than for residents of state property.

But the majority of Russians do not consider these expenses significant compared to the benefits that the owner receives.

Nuances

There are also nuances of apartment privatization:

1. Free privatization means that the owner does not need to buy his home from a municipal institution. But the expenses for paying state fees, a notary, a lawyer, etc. fall on the shoulders of the plaintiff.
2. If the land plot has a “Dacha Amnesty”, then privatization can be carried out using a simplified procedure.
3. Privatized land can be used by the owner as he pleases, but rented (municipal) land can only be used for its intended purpose, that is, rent.
4. If the commission refuses privatization without justified and compelling reasons, this decision can be challenged.

Why can they refuse?

Some Russians are faced with refusal to carry out privatization. This is possible in the following situations:

• the documents provided contain false information or are compiled incorrectly;
• real estate cannot be privatized in accordance with the law;
• the housing was subject to redevelopment or reconstruction that was not legalized;
• the applicant does not have permanent registration in the privatization object or he only rents living space;
• the citizen is already the owner of some other home and tried to hide this fact.

The applicant from the MFC will receive a reasoned refusal to carry out the procedure for transfer of ownership. The reason will be clear from it. If it is not legal, then the citizen can go to court and challenge it.

about the author

Klavdiya Treskova - higher education with qualification “Economist”, with specializations “Economics and Management” and “Computer Technologies” at PSU. She worked in a bank in positions from operator to acting. Head of the Department for servicing private and corporate clients. Every year she successfully passed certifications, education and training in banking services. Total work experience in the bank is more than 15 years. [email protected]

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Underwater rocks

Despite the tempting and positive nature of the process, privatization also has a number of negative aspects:

• After receiving ownership of the squares, property tax will be added to all payments. It is mandatory to pay it. Unpaid payments are collected through the court;

• In addition to paying utility bills for a separate living space (your own), it is necessary to make payments for the common ones of an apartment building. If the housing is rented, all necessary costs are borne by the state, and after purchasing an apartment, all costs are borne by the owner;

• If the house is demolished, the residents of the privatized apartment will be given a new one, equal in square meters to the previous one. In a similar situation with a rented apartment, there is a chance to get a much larger apartment, the area of ​​which will be calculated according to the required square footage for one person;

• Fees from residents for major repairs of an apartment building.

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Author of the article: Klavdiya Treskova

Consultant, author Popovich Anna

Financial author Olga Pikhotskaya

Positive sides

Among the advantages of housing privatization, some basic qualities can be noted:

• Independence from government policy. There is no need to worry that new government decisions may somehow affect homeownership;

• Disposition at your own discretion. The owner can rent out, sell, exchange, or donate housing. These actions will be completely legal and cannot have any complaints;

• Impossibility to evict the owner from his own apartment. The law prohibits the eviction of the owner from housing, which is the only one for a citizen;

• Possibility of obtaining a large loan secured by real estate. Such manipulations cannot be performed with a rented apartment.

Features of shared or joint privatization

In some cases, a court decision may be required to determine the share of each co-owner, or a process of transition from common ownership to shared ownership may be implemented. Such situations arise during internal conflicts, after a divorce, and under other circumstances.

The property of the spouses is joint. For others, we are talking about shared ownership. If a prenuptial agreement is concluded between them, it should always indicate the type of property. All premarital property remains personal to each of them.

Discrepancies often arise in the interpretation of the provisions of Article 244 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Articles 40-41 and 44 of the Family Code. In such situations, you should seek advice from an experienced lawyer to resolve controversial issues pre-trial.

Features of privatization with the participation of children

Persons under the age of majority who are officially registered in the living space are full co-owners. They are specified in the contract. A teenager aged 14-18 already has the right to vote and may oppose the procedure. Without his written consent, parents and other relatives will not be able to become owners.

If an official refusal is issued on behalf of a minor, you will have to go to the city guardianship authorities for permission. Also, when the child grows up, he will be able to re-apply to the state for a similar service, completely free of charge.

Housing can be privatized in the name of a small citizen. Of course, with the permission of his mom and dad. It is important that the right to registration is respected.