Improving living conditions

One of the most pressing issues for citizens of our country is the issue of acquiring housing. Able-bodied youth or older people who have the opportunity to take out a mortgage or have accumulated a certain amount of capital can solve this problem on their own. However, people in need of improved housing conditions who cannot solve this problem on their own can only count on state support. Our country gives them the right to receive new housing to lead a decent lifestyle, subject to receiving special status as those in need. We will find out how to achieve his appointment in this article.

Those in need of improved living conditions

Legislative regulation of the issue

The Constitution of our country states that every citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to own their own housing. In addition, the Housing Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that residents of the state are also entitled to purchase it with the most favorable conditions, provided that they have the status of those in need of improved housing conditions.

Thus, the same regulatory legal act determines that the sought-after status is awarded to those persons who are registered with the state. Registration is provided by:

• lack of decent living conditions for people;
• the presence of additional status of the poor.

To get an apartment from the state, you need to prove that you belong to such categories of citizens as the poor and those in need of improved living conditions

Figure 2. The Constitution of our country guarantees every citizen a decent life. Unfortunately, not every Russian can boast of having it, and therefore the state must make every effort to help the poor

Please note: recognition of any unit of society as low-income is also carried out officially, according to established rules, which will be completely unique in each locality.

Article No. 51 of the Housing Code identifies categories of the population that can receive the status of those in need and apply for a new home with government assistance.

Housing Code of the Russian Federation Article 51. Grounds for recognizing citizens as needing residential premises

The criteria for these categories are mainly considered within the framework of their current living conditions. We will find out what we are talking about further from the table.

Table 1. Grounds for obtaining the status of someone in need of improved housing conditions

The Constitution of our country guarantees every citizen a decent life. Unfortunately, not every Russian can boast of having it, and therefore the state must make every effort to help the poor

Determination criteria

Having carefully studied the categories of people in need presented in the table above, we can identify two main criteria according to which they are assigned this status.

1. First of all, those in need of improved living conditions are recognized as citizens who huddle in a residential building, the square footage of which does not correspond to the standards established at the state level, that is, in fact, it does not leave a chance for a normal existence.

At the same time, all persons living in such apartments and houses are taken into account, including:

• newborns and older people;
• old people, etc.

The criteria according to which citizens apply for new housing are represented, in fact, by the minimum size of the area, and the lack of guarantees of sanitary and physical safety while living in it

2. The second group includes people living in premises with sick people, or in emergency residential facilities, as well as in other conditions unsuitable for a healthy and fulfilling life. It turns out that the second criterion is non-compliance with the standards established at the state level regarding:

• sanitary conditions;
• security.

According to statistics, more often the question of providing assistance from the state arises precisely because of the insufficient amount of living space within the walls of which the applicant for a renovated apartment and members of his family are forced to live.

In the Russian Federation today, at a general level, there are no specific instructions as to what the minimum number of square meters is sufficient to provide a citizen with decent living. However, they are still available in the legislative acts of the country, but are only established by the local authorities of each locality.

The size of the required norm cannot be greater than the size of the provision norm established by the same local government body.

The minimum amount of living space is determined at the city level

In addition, it is also necessary to take into account the fact that regional authorities also stipulate area standards for the number of residents per apartment. The mentioned value is set as the smallest, and in reality it is not always comfortable in real-life conditions. All decisions regarding an increase in the indicator we are interested in are made by the same local government bodies.

It should also be taken into account that for different settlements this minimum number of square meters will also be different.

Please note: we are talking specifically about settlements, and not about regions, since in practice it varies even between cities located in the same region.

Who is considered to be in need of a change/improvement of living conditions?

Art. 50 of the RF Housing Code states that the sanitary standard of square meters per person varies depending on the region of residence. The average norm in Russia is 10 square meters. m per person. Those citizens of the Russian Federation who live in premises with a total footage below the sanitary standard are considered to be in need of changing/improving their living conditions.

How to recognize yourself as needing a change/improvement of living conditions?

The following are considered to be in need of improved housing conditions:

1. citizens who live in premises with a total footage below the sanitary standard;

2. people who live in conditions that do not meet safety standards;

3. persons living in dormitories, communal apartments or rented living spaces;

4. orphans.

When applying to the regional administration for improved housing conditions, the income of all family members of the applicant will be taken into account. If the total monthly income of each family member exceeds the subsistence level, the administration has the right to refuse to receive a subsidy.

Types of government assistance provided to citizens in need of improved housing conditions

Citizens who have managed to obtain the status of those in need, unfortunately, will not be allocated free living space with the subsequent opportunity to register it as their own. They are simply given the right to purchase specific housing using preferential conditions, and only then carry out the privatization procedure. As part of this type of support, those in need can receive the following assistance:

• the opportunity to obtain a mortgage loan from a credit institution with preferential terms;
• partial repayment of the loan taken at the expense of the state treasury;
• receive a minimum amount of funds from the authorities to purchase housing.

The state does not give apartments to citizens, but facilitates the conditions for obtaining them

We remind you: all of the listed support measures are awarded only to those individuals who have been able to prove the need to improve their living conditions. Moreover, if we are talking about a family, each member will have to deal with this issue separately.

Obviously, in the matter of assigning the designated status, the total income of each member of the social unit seeking help will also be taken into account. First of all, the authorities will provide support to those who cannot do it at their own expense:

• buy a good apartment that meets established standards;
• pay off the mortgage loan on your own.

To determine that a particular family cannot do either one or the other, it is necessary to sum up the income of all its members, obtaining a total value, and compare it with the current minimum subsistence level established in the territory of a particular locality.

Please note: the cost of living established in cities, villages, etc. cannot be less than the value specified at the time in Federal legislation.

To assign the required status to a low-income family, it is necessary to prove that its members have a minimum income

Algorithm of actions for recognizing those in need of improved housing conditions

Dissatisfaction with your living conditions is not a basis for registering and obtaining living space in accordance with your desires. To do this, you need to comply with a number of bureaucratic actions and go through the many-year stage of waiting for your turn to improve your living conditions.

Obtaining status. Who is eligible?

Status is acquired on the basis of compliance with one or more criteria set out in Article 51 of the LC. A citizen can simultaneously be low-income - the total income of all family members does not reach the minimum subsistence level, and at the same time, each family member may have less than 12 m2 of living space. Or, a person living in quite prosperous conditions with his family may become ill, and his illness will make it impossible for other family members to live together with him. These are rare cases. The list of diseases for which the sick person has the right to receive isolated housing is outlined below. It should be noted that these documents came into force only from 01.-1.2018:

— Order of the Ministry of Health of Russia dated November 30, 2012 No. 991n “On approval of the list of diseases giving disabled people suffering from them the right to additional living space”;

— Order of the Ministry of Health of Russia dated November 29, 2012 No. 987n “On approval of the list of severe forms of chronic diseases in which it is impossible for citizens to live together in the same apartment.”

Registration of citizens

It is worth saying that in the process of determining the need of families applicants for improved living conditions, the gender and age characteristics of their members will also be taken into account.

1. So, for example, if a family has children of different sexes whose age has reached 9 years from the moment of birth, the family will receive an apartment in which there will be a separate room for each offspring, due to certain moral standards and the physiological characteristics of male and female sexes.
2. The same applies to situations where there are elderly citizens in the family. If, for example, a family has both a grandmother and an adult son, then this unit of society can also count on a separate room for the ancestor.

Sometimes the state is faced with cases in which the same citizen is recognized as needy according to several parameters at once, for example:

• the living space in which he lives does not comply with the standards established in the locality;
• his room or apartment is located in a house recognized as unsafe.

In this situation, unfortunately, the state does not provide such a person with the opportunity to take advantage of several support programs at once; he will still have to choose only one of them.

If a person is recognized as needy according to several parameters, he still applies for only one option for receiving support from the state

Applicants for improvement of living conditions

Taking into account what is written in the laws of different levels, the following categories of citizens can apply for improved housing conditions:

1. If a citizen has no housing at all: neither his own corner, nor municipal, nor social, and his family members also do not have any living quarters.
2. If a citizen or a member of his family owns an apartment, room, house or rents municipal or social housing, but its size is less than the norm.
3. When living in a communal apartment or dormitory, if one of the families has a sick relative, it is impossible to live next to him, and there is no other housing.
4. The law has approved a list of such diseases (a list of severe forms of chronic diseases in which it is impossible for citizens to live together in the same apartment).
5. If the premises in which the applicant lives do not meet the standard required for residential premises.

The degree of housing provision is established by summing up all types of available residential real estate owned by the applicant: municipal, social, private.

Some categories of Russians have privileges to improve their living conditions without waiting in line. These are adult orphans, disabled or seriously ill people, as well as families whose housing is considered unsuitable for living.

Queuing up for an apartment

Persons who contact the authorities are given the opportunity to stand in line to receive an apartment. Each of them receives a unique number, under which they will be listed in the general list of applicants for improvement of living conditions.

As soon as the placement in the queue takes place, persons recognized as needy, during the waiting period, which, by the way, can last for years, must prepare for the fact that they will now have to annually submit a package of documents according to a certain list for verification.

This package of documents will be represented by papers reflecting the real financial situation of the family, as well as the current conditions of their residence.

Thus, if during the waiting period citizens independently improve their own situation, then the right to receive assistance from the state will be taken away from them, and they will also be excluded from the queue. Even if the situation subsequently worsens again, they will have to join the queue again.

Citizens may be excluded from the queue provided that their financial situation has improved

In addition, the needy family is given the responsibility of constantly monitoring their own progress in the queue. The period for obtaining an apartment can last for decades, or it can be shorter if, for example:

• Due to improved living conditions, many applicants for an apartment will be automatically excluded from the list of potential housing recipients;
• the recipient of housing applies for a change in housing conditions for the better in an accelerated (emergency) manner.

You can track where you are in the queue of apartment recipients in the following ways.

Method 1. Submit an application to the department of the local government agency responsible for the provision of housing in your city, whose representatives initially registered you.

Sample application for registration as a person in need of residential premises

To do this, you need to prepare two copies of the designated official paper and come with them to the place where you receive the information. A specialist from a government agency working with those in need will take one of the forms from you, and on the second will put a mark indicating that the written appeal has been received.

Method 2. Sending an application by registered mail. If for any reason you do not have enough time to get to the specified collection point, you can send your application by registered mail. Then, within 30 days from the date of receipt of the request, you will receive an answer to your question.

Method 3. Go to the online resource of the administration of your locality and find the appropriate tab there, by going to which you can get information about the people in line for housing.

Every year, persons on the waiting list will have to confirm their status by submitting a package of certain documents for consideration

Confirmation of needy status

As we said above, every year in order to maintain your place in the queue, you will have to provide the state with certain documents for consideration, which will again and again confirm your status:

• those in need of new housing;
• the poor.

The queue to get an apartment is really long; many people wait for tens of years to get housing.

The package of designated official papers is represented by a statement of appropriate content, the specific text of which, as an example, will be provided to you by employees of the local government body, as well as a list of other documents. This list may change depending on what city you are in, but most often it will still be represented by the following items.

1. An act that was drawn up based on the results of an inspection of your apartment by inspectors of authorized government bodies.
2. Provided that the family wishing to receive an apartment lives in a dormitory or communal apartment while waiting, it is necessary to provide a sanitary passport of the residential facility.
3. Also submitted for verification is the decision of the local government body, according to which a particular family previously received both statuses of interest to us, which gave it the right to be in the queue.
4. A certificate of family composition is also submitted, since this indicator is very important for maintaining its status as low-income or in need of changes in living conditions.

   Certificate of family composition

5. In addition, you may need documents that establish the existence of family ties between applicants for an apartment, namely:
   Marriage certificate;
6. children's birth certificates;
7. applicants' passports, etc.
8. Also, statements from the personal account of each family member of those in need are submitted for verification, as well as a certificate from the place of work of each employed citizen. Moreover, if family members are not employed, but, for example, study, they must also submit for consideration certificates from the place of study, etc., as well as documents indicating the preferential payments they receive, since even these are taken into account as the income of the cell society.
9. You must also bring for inspection an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, according to which applicants for state support do not own their own home. This document must be provided, since if it is absent, the state may suspect you of deception and remove you from the register, making it as difficult as possible to return to the queue for housing.

Please note: the extract from the Unified State Register records all real estate transactions carried out by citizens over the last 5 years, and therefore, if during this period you, for example, sold an apartment and received decent money for it, the state will certainly refuse you help.

Sample extract from USRN

Submitting documents to maintain status can be done both at the MFC and directly to the administration.

Let's sum it up

If you live in a house that has been declared unsafe, or live in a small apartment with many relatives, it’s time to turn to the state for help. Of course, for this you should not have any financial ability to independently resolve the problem that has arisen, since in this case the state will refuse to provide your family with all possible assistance. If the authorities are satisfied with everything, and you confirm your status as poor and needy, you will soon be offered several options for solving the problem on preferential terms. Unfortunately, even if successful, a lot of time may still pass before you receive an apartment, however, sooner or later you will become its happy owner.

In recent years, the state has been expanding assistance for young families in purchasing or building housing. A subsidy for the construction of a house is one of the types of investments in the future of the country for the purpose of its demographic problem. In addition to young families, other categories of the population can also count on receiving housing preferences. In a special article we will consider this topic in more detail.