In Russia, lawmakers proposed revising how tariffs for the upkeep of new residential buildings, specifically the communal property within, are determined. Sergei Pakhomov (United Russia), head of the Committee on Construction, Housing and Communal Services, together with the committee’s first deputy chair, Vladimir Koshelev (LDPR), plan to submit to the State Duma a bill that would amend the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, as reported by News.
The proposal concerns charges for services and contributions tied to managing an apartment building, including maintenance, routine repairs, housing and utilities, and major renovations. The bill suggests that the cost should be calculated based on the property’s technical documentation, and that the price should not be determined solely by the management companies.
According to the explanatory note accompanying the bill, the amount payable for residential buildings during the commissioning phase is currently set by the developer and the management organization, and it often lacks a solid financial justification. Residents have frequently voiced frustration over unexpectedly high service fees.
It is stated that if the contract between the developer and the management company has expired and local authorities have not launched a competition to select a new management company, there are also no clear regulations governing how fees should be calculated.
The authors note that the new amendments are designed to align Housing Code provisions and to establish an objective framework for determining the fees associated with common areas.
Earlier, Andrey Loboda, an economist and communications director at BitRiver, commented that a bill setting the maximum share of Russians’ household expenditures on housing and communal services could be adopted before year’s end.
Earlier reports noted that Russians are increasingly inclined to invest in more expensive housing for their children.