Redevelopment News
Новости перепланировки
October 2021 - In 2021, and also, with a high degree of probability, until the end of 2022, the redevelopment project and technical conclusion cannot be submitted for approval not only directly to the Moscow Housing Inspectorate, but also the MFC (multifunctional centers). Documents will be accepted only in electronic form through an electronic public service on the mos.ru website. On the other hand, now you can submit all documents remotely - this has a lot of advantages. Now we also carry out all the work remotely (except for visiting the site), prepare all the files for remote project approval, and send them to you in electronic form. You just have to download them through the portal of the Moscow government, and we will tell you how to do it better and help you in case of any problems.
August 2017 – A technical statement on the admissibility and safety of the works performed (in the course of redevelopment) in Moscow will now be issued only by "specially selected organizations". Nobody knows yet what these "selected organizations" are, but there are speculations that they will probably be "specially" selected and "specially" created organizations for "special" people with "special" purposes, which will work with all redevelopment planners. Prices are expected to be significantly higher than market ones (due to monopoly), while timescales – indefinite. So, right now we are not preparing any "technical statements on admissibility and safety", we are issuing "technical statements on possibility" and working on redevelopment design plans. And, of course, nothing will stop us (except for the decree on the translation of all design documentation into the Uzbek language). There is still a lot of work on the market which we will keep doing. And now let’s look at the issue in more detail. Decree of the Government of Moscow of May 24, 2017, No.289-PP "On amending Decree of the Government of Moscow of October 25, 2011, No.508-PP and revoking Order of the Government of Moscow of April 8, 2008, No.695-RP" entered into force on the day of its official publication, with the exception of certain provisions which enter into force on August 1, 2017. The decree adjusts the requirements for the redevelopment of residential and non-residential premises in apartment buildings. Starting from August 1, 2017, if there is no information on the author of the building, technical statements on admissibility and safety will be issued by "selected organizations". Moreover, if a residential building is located in the historical development zone, a technical report on the state of the building structures and a technical statement on the "permissibility" of redevelopment will be prepared by the same "selected" organizations. Order of the Moscow Government of April 8, 2008, No.695-RP "On strengthening the control over renovation works…" has lost its force.
June 2017 - Moscow. Problems with getting approvals for open layout apartments. Enlargement of bathroom units and kitchens (this is what people are most often planning to do) in ordinary apartments (without open layouts) is easy to accomplish using corridors and pantries, which are marked and properly annotated on BTI plans. And in "open" layout apartments (there is no separate corridor marked in plans or maps) inspectors refer to the standard saying that it is not allowed to enlarge a non-residential area at the expense of a residential area. And in an open layout apartment, the entire area of the apartment, except bathroom units and a kitchen, is considered residential. Who could expect this! The absurdity of the situation doesn’t surprise anyone anymore. How then can this layout be called "open"? It looks like an open unopened with this open layout. Following the logic of the law, no matter in which direction will you be expanding a kitchen or a bathroom unit, you will always hit a living space, and it is forbidden to enlarge your kitchen or bathroom unit at the expense of the living space. The wording of the refusal will be as follows: "You have enlarged the non-residential area at the expense of the residential area which is in violation of the norms".
May 2017 – the procedure of getting approvals for redevelopment design plans of residential premises in Moscow changed. In the old days, law-abiding citizens, prior to starting any renovation, used to order a redevelopment design plan and a technical statement. Then, construction works following the design plan were performed, and then an inspector from Moszhilinspektsiya would come to draw up a statement of the works completed. If an inspector revealed some minor differences from the plan (which almost always occur), it was enough to submit an amended "after"-redevelopment plan to Moszhilinspektsiya. The approved "after"-plan contained these differences, and there were no problems. Starting from May 2017, Moscow inspectorates adopted a new routine. If an inspector discovers any differences from the redevelopment plan (even the minor ones), the design plan must be changed completely and all these differences and changes must be there. At the same time, the latest received (valid) order is revoked, and the owner of the apartment must receive a new approval order for the new corrected redevelopment plan. In addition, inspectors draw up statements with cameras in their hands (this is an innovation), taking pictures of all interesting changes: a small threshold in a bathroom unit, stained-glass doors, steps, any other minor differences, the layout of sinks and plumbing fixtures. Since a redevelopment design plan cannot contain all the details which often occur in the course of the construction works, a customer should bear in mind that inspectors can always find and record some small differences.
March 2017 - The State Duma amended the Housing Code instructing the inspectorates on the supervision of redevelopments to carry out active raids to detect illegal redevelopments.
March 2017 - The Ministry of Construction submitted a bill to the Government of Russia amending the procedure of agreeing on a redevelopment design plan with other owners of the building in cases when redevelopment involves changes in the size of the common property of the owners of an apartment building. That’s where the trouble lies! For some reason, Russians are very fond of dismantling (eliminating) window sills (and joining balconies and loggias with apartments). While Zhilinspektsiya (Housing Inspectorate), on the contrary, is very fond of refusing to issue approvals as it believes that dismantling window sills reduces the total (shared) area of an apartment building which belongs to all owners of the building. In the old days, various tricks were used to get an approval – for example, if a building was large, the required 50% shared owners’ votes were collected in a remote part of the building. Now, these tricks become impossible, as, firstly, consents of the owners of all adjacent apartments, and, secondly, consents of all owners of the driveway to the building are required. Of course, some new tricks will be invented soon. This law will also apply to the cases when redevelopment involves taking "a small part" of the driveway, common hall, basement or attic.
April 2017 - police officers did not allow a Moscow resident to go abroad because she was responsible for an illegal redevelopment of non-residential premises and the court resolved that the premises should be restored to the state prior to the redevelopment works.
