Where did the contributions for the overhaul come from?
Restoring a home is an expensive undertaking, and such sums do not appear overnight. The state considered that the optimal solution here would be to accumulate them gradually, while simultaneously imposing corresponding obligations on homeowners.
In 2012, the Housing Code of the Russian Federation was supplemented with new requirements for owners of premises in apartment buildings (we are talking about both residential and non-residential premises) regarding mandatory payments for major repairs. That is, collecting fees for major repairs is absolutely legal and official, which means you cannot refuse to pay them. It is not recommended to accumulate debts, because in this case there is a possibility of facing penalties as well as lawsuits.
Why do we pay? The treasury is not rubber!
In 2014-2015, in Russia, the legislation regulating the housing and communal services sector has once again radically changed.
Starting this year, the government of the country has stopped spending federal funds on major renovations of houses - from now on, apartment owners will pay for repairs of the entire house. Attempts to place the burden of repairing high-rise buildings on the shoulders of owners began many years ago. The Housing Code of the Russian Federation (LC RF), adopted in 2005, set out a clear position: the owners of apartments in an apartment building are also the owners of “common areas”. And whoever owns the property is responsible for it.
In 2007, the Russian government created a special Housing and Communal Services Reform Fund , which allocated funds to regions for major repairs of high-rise buildings in accordance with a special application from the regional Ministry of Housing and Communal Services. In support of this initiative, a special Federal Law No. 185 “On the Fund for Assistance to the Reform of Housing and Communal Services” was adopted.
The Irkutsk region has become a recipient of its funds since 2008. Since then, under the fund’s programs in the region, major repairs of common property have been carried out in 2,196 buildings with a total area of 6 million 264 thousand square meters - but this is only 15.5% of the region’s multi-apartment housing stock.
In 2014, 133 million rubles were allocated from the federal budget to the Angara region, in 2015 - only 76 million rubles. This is the limit, then the owners pay themselves.
The basis of the new mechanism is the creation of a regional system for capital repairs of apartment buildings. For this purpose, in December 2013, the regional law “On the organization and implementation of major repairs of common property in multi-apartment residential buildings in the Irkutsk region” was adopted.
In addition, on March 20, 2014, the Irkutsk region approved a program for the overhaul of common property in apartment buildings for 2014–2043. The program became the basis for the adoption of short-term plans for capital repairs of houses.
Calculations of the contribution for major repairs are as follows: in Irkutsk, in non-gasified buildings with a height of up to six floors, the tariff is 4.95 rubles per square meter , in gasified ones - 5.3 rubles . In houses with six or more floors, the contribution amount varies from 7.32 to 7.87 rubles per square meter . In houses with stove heating up to three floors high, owners will pay 3.41 rubles per square meter . In the northern regions of the region, the tariff will increase by an average of 70 kopecks.
That is, on average, an Irkutsk resident must pay approximately 500-700 rubles every month.
The cheapest overhaul will cost a resident of frosty Yakutia - only 3-3.5 rubles per square meter. Capital repairs are the most expensive for residents of the capital - Muscovites pay 15 rubles per square meter.
Funds for capital repairs of apartment buildings are created specifically for the implementation of the mechanism in the regions - these are the regional operators of the program , their founders are the regional ministries of housing and communal services. The responsibility of the funds is to accumulate funds for major repairs and their subsequent distribution. Such a fund appeared in the Irkutsk region in December 2013.
Do I need to pay for major repairs if the apartment is located in a new building?
Homeowners in new buildings have access to a kind of “payment holiday”, which allows them not to make payments for major repairs for a certain period (Article 170 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation). However, each Russian region sets this deadline independently. For example, in Moscow and St. Petersburg it is completely absent, but in Novosibirsk and Samara it is 5 years (this is the maximum legally possible duration of this period).
If we talk about the Moscow region, then this issue is regulated by the Law of the Moscow Region No. 66/2013-OZ “On the organization of major repairs of common property in apartment buildings located on the territory of the Moscow Region.”
Part 2.1 art. 5 of this law states that “the obligation to pay contributions for major repairs arises from the owners of premises in an apartment building after three calendar months, starting from the month following the month in which the approved regional capital repair program was officially published, in which this apartment building is included. Including MKD, which was put into operation after the approval of the regional program and included in the specified program when it was updated.”
The capital improvement fund website has an interactive map where you can track the relevant regional program online.
