Apartment Houses: History And Prospects Of Construction In Modern Russia

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Apartment Houses: History And Prospects Of Construction In Modern Russia
Apartment Houses: History And Prospects Of Construction In Modern Russia

Video: Apartment Houses: History And Prospects Of Construction In Modern Russia

Video: Apartment Houses: History And Prospects Of Construction In Modern Russia
Video: The history of mass housing in Russia 2024, March
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  • What are tenement houses
  • An excursion into history
  • Apartment buildings in modern Russia on the example of Moscow and St. Petersburg

    • Moscow apartment buildings of the XXI century
    • 
Apartment buildings in St. Petersburg
  • World experience
  • Revival of the construction of apartment buildings under the capital's program "Housing"
  • 

Prospects for apartment buildings on the Russian real estate market
Apartment houses
Apartment houses

Edward Hopper. Apartment Houses. 1923

All over the world, the selection practice is actively and rather successfully applied. In Russia, the institution of tenement houses was destroyed with the arrival of the Bolsheviks, and this sector is still practically empty.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the features of this real estate market and assess the prospects for the implementation of the program for the construction of apartment buildings in modern Russia.

What are tenement houses

Apartment buildings are multi-apartment residential buildings that are specially built for the subsequent renting of apartments. For a very long time, apartment buildings have been one of the main types of housing for urban residents in many developed countries of the world.

Typically, such a house occupies the entire land owned by the homeowner, sometimes the house has a small patio.

It should also be noted that the apartments in such houses are qualitatively different from ordinary apartments offered for rent by private individuals. In such houses, clients are almost always offered a whole range of additional services, for example:

  • cleaning of premises;
  • concierge;
  • parking;
  • car wash and much more.

In European countries, such residential complexes have become very popular for a very long time; in some countries, more than half of the population lives in apartment buildings.

An excursion into history

For Russia, the construction of apartment buildings is also far from a new idea. The first houses of this kind began to be built back in the 18th century. They were mainly built by wealthy people, who then received a good income by renting out apartments in their houses to those in need of housing. In total, in pre-revolutionary Russia, there were more than 800 apartment buildings in the capital alone.

However, the most successful in this direction was St. Petersburg, which was mainly built as a city of tenement houses. The peak of the construction of multi-storey apartment buildings in the northern capital fell on the second half of the 19th century. Then in St. Petersburg about 95% of all apartments were rented.

As for Moscow, according to contemporaries, at the beginning of the 20th century, about 40% of the capital's housing stock were tenement houses.

People of various classes could rent housing in tenement houses - both state councilors and poor students. Renting an apartment was convenient because the tenant did not have to pay taxes on the property, as well as monitor the maintenance of the apartment - all this fell on the shoulders of the owner of the house.

The cheapest room could be rented at that time at a price of 20 kopecks per night, and a bed was 4 times less.

It should be noted that apartments in tenement buildings were offered at completely different levels. Among them were elite apartments: spacious, with expensive furniture and decoration. Such houses had all the conveniences, right down to water heaters in the bathroom, gas stoves in the kitchen, mini-power plants and separate boiler rooms. The total area of such an apartment was from 200 sq. The houses for the middle class were also characterized by fairly good conditions. Cheaper housing could be rented in apartment buildings, which were mainly located outside the center of the capital. As a rule, such apartments looked more like closets. Outwardly, these buildings looked gray and boring. Contemporaries called them anthills and barracks.

As for the price, the cheapest room could be rented at that time at a price of 20 kopecks per night, and a bed cost 4 times less. Consequently, the cheapest room cost the tenant 6 rubles a month.

Apartment houses
Apartment houses

Elena Novikova. Apartment buildings near the Kokushkin Bridge. 2004

In general, rent in middle-level houses ranged from 10 to 100 rubles per month. Elite housing in some apartment buildings cost more than 1,000 rubles a month. That is how much it cost to rent an apartment in the house of Prince Shcherbatov's mansion, located at 11 Novinsky Boulevard.

For comparison, in 1880 the average wage of a worker in Russia was 30.38 rubles, and in 1913 - 37.5 rubles. And for 10 kopecks you could drink a glass of vodka or eat a pie.

The era of prosperity of apartment buildings in Russia ended at the beginning of the 20th century with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks. After the October Revolution in 1917, tenement houses lost their status due to the nationalization of the housing stock.

Apartment buildings in modern Russia on the example of Moscow and St. Petersburg

Moscow apartment buildings of the XXI century

The idea of reviving apartment buildings began to sound from the mouth of the capital's authorities back in 1999. But the implementation of this project at that time was seriously hampered by the existing law on housing policy, which allowed tenants of apartments in apartment buildings to privatize housing.

After a number of bills were adopted that prohibited such privatization, the first apartment building was built in the city at 10 Bolshoy Nikolovorobinsky Lane. This 47-apartment building was erected by the Moscow Department of Construction Investment Programs (DIPS) and adopted in operation in 2003.

The cost of the DIPS apartment building project amounted to $ 12.3 million. This house still exists today and has become a fairly successful project. Note that renting an apartment here is quite expensive - from 2.5 thousand to 12 thousand dollars.

However, despite the fact that the apartment building of DIPS turned out to be in great demand (it is currently 98% populated, and the rest of the apartments are regularly rented for a short period), the experiment of the Moscow authorities has not yet been continued. The fact is that the authorities have to compete for clients with the private sector, which accounts for the lion's share of apartments for rent in the capital. In addition, managing a large home is also not easy and expensive.

For these reasons, at present in Moscow, in addition to the apartment building in Bolshoy Nikolovorobinsky Lane, only 1 full-fledged project was launched, which was built by a commercial company.

At the end of 2007, the Barkley corporation built the first elite apartment building in the capital - Barkli Plaza, which is located on Prechistinskaya embankment, in the most expensive district of Moscow.

Moscow apartment buildings
Moscow apartment buildings

Nesterov Vasily. Prechistinka. 2010

The residential complex includes 5 separate buildings, the height of which ranges from 5 to 7 floors. A modern class A business center is located on the first floors of Barkley Plaza, and elite apartments intended for rent are located on the rest. Prices confirm the exclusive status of housing: for an apartment with an area of 75 sq. m with one bedroom will have to pay from 10 thousand dollars a month, and for penthouses and five-room apartments over 255 sq. m - from 32 thousand dollars per month.



Apartment buildings in St. Petersburg


The first apartment building in modern St. Petersburg was created by a Finnish investment pension fund, which bought out part of the house on Kolomyazhsky Prospekt.

The Finns are interested in this sector of the real estate market because it is practically absent in Russia, in St. Petersburg in particular. Therefore, investors expect to receive a decent income, based on the fact that with the existing housing shortage, apartments in their apartment building will be in demand.

It should also be noted that another Finnish company, which has about 23 thousand similar houses in its homeland, also plans to start building apartment buildings in St. Petersburg.

The Finnish company owns 276 apartments at 15 Kolomyazhsky prospect, from 1 to 3 rooms, which are rented to tenants for a period of 11 months with the possibility of renewing the lease. According to this agreement, tenants are prohibited from redeveloping the apartment or repainting the walls. Even in order to drill a small hole in the wall, for example, to hang a clock or a picture, tenants will have to contact the maintenance service of the apartment building. Finnish landlords explain such strict rules of residence by the fact that all their apartments are made in the same style, which cannot be violated.

The rental price in the only St. Petersburg apartment building depends on both the area of the apartment and the floor (according to European standards, the higher the floor, the more expensive the apartment is). For a 1-room apartment with an area of about 37 sq. m will have to pay 18 thousand rubles a month. For a 3-room apartment - from 41 thousand rubles a month.

World experience

In the West, for a very long time, the construction and maintenance of apartment buildings has been a profitable and successful business that provides the owners of such houses with a stable income at the level of 10-12% per annum.

In large European cities, the share of apartment buildings currently accounts for up to 30% of the urban residential real estate market. Many young families find it more profitable to rent an apartment, rather than buy housing, even with the use of mortgage lending.

Note that according to the International Union of Tenants, now in the countries of Eastern Europe, which recently entered the EU, about 40% of the population rent housing. In "old" Europe, the figures are higher: for example, in Holland and Germany - 50%, in Switzerland - 70%.

Apartment buildings in Europe
Apartment buildings in Europe

Marcia Baldwin. Holland row houses

If we take individual European cities, then in some, the overwhelming majority of the population lives in apartment buildings. For example, in Berlin, according to statistics, 90% of tenants, and in Stockholm - 100% (the fact is that the privatization of apartments is prohibited in Sweden - as a result, in the country as a whole, only about 10% of the housing stock is privately owned).

As for the United States, here the largest part of the housing stock is private houses. And only 30% of real estate is rented. However, this does not apply to large cities. In large cities, there is a large fund of apartment buildings intended for rent. For example, in San Francisco, 65% of the housing stock is rented, and in New York - 70%. In Montreal, Canada, about 50% of the population lives in rented apartments.

Apartment houses in Europe and the USA are a common and widespread type of business that generates tangible income.

At the same time, there is also the so-called social housing. This type includes apartment buildings that are owned by private investors, but the state, within the framework of certain social programs, compensates apartment owners for the difference between the market and social rental prices.

The fact that this is social housing does not mean at all that the houses are located in poor areas or that living conditions there are poor. Houses can be located in very decent areas, but they still look inexpensive and cannot boast of expensive finishes. But in general, living conditions are decent. These are the apartments that are most popular among students and people with an average income.

Revival of the construction of apartment buildings under the capital's program "Housing"

The Moscow government is trying to find a solution to the housing shortage in Moscow. The authorities have repeatedly raised the issue of implementing a program for the construction of apartment buildings in the city that could help in solving this issue. But the matter has not yet reached practical implementation. However, the Moscow government recently approved the Housing program, developed for the period 2012-2016, in which officials provided for the revival of apartment buildings in Moscow. Within the framework of this program, houses of two types will be built:

  • non-subsidized, the construction of which is provided for at the expense of the city budget;
  • profitable, which will be built at the expense of private investors.

The government is currently working on measures to help attract domestic businesses to participate in this program. Many experts believe that such a program should have been adopted long ago. In their opinion, Russia now has all the prerequisites for creating a civilized rental housing market. Currently, the domestic rental housing market is in complete chaos. Few of the owners formalize relations with tenants officially, which sometimes leads to serious problems for both the owner and the tenant.

The construction of apartment buildings will allow to increase not only the number of apartments available to the population, but also improve the quality of the services offered. Citizens will be able to rent an apartment not from "private traders", but from an organization. Even if an apartment in a tenement building will cost a little more, the tenant will be guaranteed normal living conditions, a full range of housing maintenance services, as well as a formal agreement establishing the rights and responsibilities of the parties.



Prospects for apartment buildings on the Russian real estate market

As we have already noted above, the market of apartment buildings has been functioning abroad for a long time and this type of housing there is quite familiar to the population. In the west, there is also a legal framework necessary for the efficient operation of apartment buildings.

In modern Russia, in contrast to Western countries, the construction of apartment buildings has not yet become widespread due to their low profitability. Russian investors consider an acceptable yield at the level of 7-10%, which is two times higher than that existing on the market, for Europe, 4% profit is considered normal. In addition, in our country today the very concept of "apartment building" is absent in the legislation, therefore, there is no legal regulation of relations in this sector of the real estate market.

For the successful implementation of projects of apartment buildings and the further development of this direction in Russia, it is necessary to secure the status of an apartment building at the legislative level.

It is also necessary to develop a system of interaction between investors and the state. Experts note that the state should develop measures to stimulate business, as well as provide certain guarantees and protection against the dishonesty of some participants.


Among the measures of state incentives that will help to achieve the effective development of this area in the rental real estate market, one can single out:

  • ensuring a priority order of consideration by the authorities of issues related to the construction of apartment buildings;
  • holding tenders where land plots will be offered for lease for the construction of tenement houses on them;
  • introduction of a preferential rental rate for land plots provided for the construction of a tenement house on them for the period of its construction, as well as for a certain period after the entry of a tenement house into operation, etc.

Certain conditions may act as government guarantees, which will be mandatory during the auction, for example:

  • the land plots put up for auction must combine land plots for the construction of apartment buildings and economy and business class;
  • land plots are put up for auction only on the condition that the developer (investor) will be obliged to provide a certain share of the total number of apartments in the apartment building for rent to certain categories of citizens by the state. This will help to implement a program of social housing of the Western type, when the state will compensate the investor for part of the rent provided to socially unprotected (poor) segments of the population.

It should also be noted that the construction of apartment buildings can be effectively used not only in the capital, but also in the regions. Even more favorable conditions for their construction are noted here: less cumbersome bureaucratic apparatus and a greater number of free areas suitable for building.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the construction of apartment buildings is a promising direction for Russia. However, in order for this sector to be able to actively develop, at this stage, first of all, government support is needed.

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