For a comfortable stay in housing, you need enough space so that everyone has their own personal space. Various situations (for example, new additions to the family) lead to the need to expand living space. There are several ways to solve this problem.
A family with a small income can submit an application to the municipal authorities. If the living space of the apartment does not meet the established standards adopted in the subject of the Federation, the family can count on an increase in living space.
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Due to limited finances, not everyone can improve their living conditions on their own. In this regard, local authorities must keep records of low-income families. The latter, in turn, must confirm their status with relevant documents.
What does the procedure involve?
The main goal of the housing expansion program is to improve the quality of life of citizens. To participate in it, you must fall under one of the preferential categories. Only in this case will social authorities be able to accept documents to place the applicant on the waiting list. As a result of their consideration, a decision will be made on whether a subsidy from the state will be provided or not.
The forms and amounts of state assistance are individual - they depend on the composition of the applicant’s family and current living conditions.
Sample certificate of state registration of rights
Expansion of living conditions in 2019
- Providing a mortgage loan at a reduced rate.
- Granting subsidies to pay the down payment on a mortgage loan or to reimburse part of the cost of housing.
- Special programs for expanding living space.
- Allocation of an apartment under a social tenancy agreement.
- Assistance in purchasing housing on your own.
- Programs designed to provide housing.
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A subsidy is free assistance from the federal authorities or a municipality; it does not take the form of an installment plan or loan. The peculiarity of housing subsidies is the limited period of their use and their intended purpose. Material assistance aimed at expanding housing conditions cannot be used for education or other purposes.
Central stages
Main contenders
Not all citizens can count on improving their current living conditions. There is a fixed list of preferential categories that are given this opportunity.
You have the right to apply:
- citizens who do not have their own housing if they have not signed a social rental agreement;
- residents of dilapidated houses or those intended for demolition;
- having a family member with a disease that poses a threat to all persons living with him;
- persons living in the same apartment who are not related to each other;
- if the dwelling does not comply with fire, construction or sanitary standards, that is, it may be declared unfit for habitation.
Citizens forced to live in a dilapidated building can move up in line faster than all other categories.
Considering that the state’s goal is to reduce low-income citizens, the following social programs are being implemented in relation to housing:
- issuance of certificates for new housing;
- calculation of subsidies;
- transfer of housing stock to social rent.
Sample extract from the house register
Where to go
Those who have learned about the existence of the housing expansion program have a question: where should they go to apply. Social protection authorities or local administration are responsible for these issues.
First, it is recommended to contact social authorities to make inquiries about whether the family can qualify for benefits. If yes, then which ones?
For these purposes, you will need two main documents: certificates of income for each family member for the past year and a certificate of the condition of the living space, which can be obtained from the BTI. Based on these documents, the commission will make its decision on the case and give an opinion on whether state assistance will be provided and in what form.
A sample application for expansion of living space can be found and downloaded on our website. Read about the list of documents for expanding living space in this publication.
How can I get in line?
There is no single document regulating the order of waiting lists applying for housing expansion. Local governments independently create lists based on the status of beneficiaries and the date of their application. In most subjects of the Federation, at the beginning of the queue are people who had the right to improve their living conditions back in Soviet times.
Only military personnel can count on faster receipt of new housing. There is a special savings mortgage system for them.
In any case, if the family can be classified as low-income, it is worth submitting an application, regardless of the current long queue and its insignificant progress. The sooner this is done, the better. And then all that remains is to wait.
Perhaps someday the line will begin to move much faster if, say, the state organizes a special project to build new residential buildings for beneficiaries on a mass scale.
Example of a certificate from the BTI
Which citizens have the right to expand their living space?
Many people have a reasonable question: who has the right to additional expansion of living space. The list of such persons is approved by the state.
Beneficiaries include:
- young families (full or with one parent in whose care there are minor children) who do not have normal living conditions;
- low-income families whose income per person is less than the subsistence level established in the region as the minimum;
- large families, for whom the issue of providing additional living space is, as a rule, very acute;
- war veterans.
If we talk about which of the disabled people has the right to expand their living space, then those who cannot work and, therefore, are not able to solve this problem on their own can apply for housing expansion.
Expansion of living space
Hello!
I own an apartment, 17.5 residential meters. Three people are registered (me, my husband and my minor son). Please tell me, can we get in line to expand our living space? If yes, where and how? Thank you in advance. Kuznetsova Oksana Gennadievna Nizhny Novgorod
Low-income citizens recognized on the grounds established by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Housing Code of the Russian Federation) are in need of residential premises provided under social tenancy agreements, residential premises of the municipal housing stock under social tenancy agreements are provided in the manner established by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. Low-income citizens are citizens if they are recognized as such by a local government body in the manner established by the law of the relevant constituent entity of the Russian Federation, taking into account the income per family member and the value of property owned by family members and subject to taxation. Also, according to the Rules for the provision of social payments to young families for the purchase (construction) of housing and their use within the framework of the implementation of the subprogram “Providing housing for young families” of the federal target program “Housing” for 2021 - 2021, a young family, including single-parent families, can be a participant in the subprogram a young family consisting of one young parent and one or more children, meeting the following conditions: a) the age of each spouse or one parent in a single-parent family on the day the executive authority of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation made a decision to include a young family participating in the subprogram in the list of applicants to receive social benefits in the planned year does not exceed 35 years; b) the family is recognized as in need of housing; for the purposes of the Rules, those in need of residential premises mean young families registered as needing improved housing conditions before March 1, 2021, as well as young families recognized by local government bodies at the place of their permanent residence as needing residential premises after March 1 2021 on the same grounds that are established by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation for recognizing citizens as needing residential premises provided under social tenancy agreements, regardless of whether they are registered as needing residential premises c) the family has income that allows obtain a loan or other funds sufficient to pay the estimated (average) cost of housing in a portion exceeding the amount of social benefits provided.
I have been a forced migrant since 2021.
and I’m in the queue for housing at the Housing Policy Department under the Administration of the Ussuri City District, annually I go through re-registration of the queue for housing, I have to collect certificates and submit to the Department from the real estate department - 500 rubles, apartment card and personal account extract 300 rubles, is there the law on the collection of all supporting certificates and documents in electronic form directly by the Housing Policy Department without my participation. Asvatova L.V. Ussuriysk
Order of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation dated February 25, 2021 N 18 approved Methodological recommendations for the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local governments on determining the procedure for local government bodies to keep records of citizens as those in need of residential premises provided under social contracts hiring, and for the provision of residential premises to such citizens under a social tenancy agreement (hereinafter referred to as the Methodological Recommendations), which were developed with the aim of uniformly applying the provisions of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation by government authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation when establishing the procedure for maintaining records of citizens as those in need of residential premises. Accordingly, a certain procedure for re-registration will be established by the relevant subject of the Russian Federation. According to the Methodological Recommendations, in order to undergo re-registration, a citizen is obliged to provide the authorized local government body with information confirming his status as a person in need of housing. The procedure for confirming information may be as follows: - if a citizen has not had any changes in the previously provided information over the past period, it is recommended to formalize this with an appropriate receipt from the citizen, with which he confirms the immutability of the information previously provided by him; — if there are changes in the information about a citizen, the citizen is obliged to provide new documents confirming the changes that have occurred. In this case, the local government body must check the validity of classifying a citizen as needing housing, taking into account the new documents provided. We remind you that the Methodological Recommendations are advisory in nature.
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Design details
Compliance with conditions
To benefit from the Housing Expansion Program, a family must qualify as needy or low-income. The grounds for obtaining such statuses are determined by the Housing Code (Article 51). These must be documented when submitting your application. The list of possible beneficiaries was given above.
Article 51. Grounds for recognizing citizens as needing residential premises provided under social tenancy agreements
What papers to submit
A specific list of documents required to apply for housing expansion is compiled by local authorities.
But, as a rule, when applying you need to have the following documents:
- certificate from the BTI;
- title documents for current housing;
- information from the house register (if living in a private house);
- Russian Federation passport (no benefits are provided for those applying from other countries);
- certificates indicating serious illness;
- data from the place of work.
To apply for social assistance, eligible citizens should first ask their local administration where to apply in their case. It is also recommended that you contact your local social security office to obtain detailed information regarding benefits.
The application must contain the following information:
- information about beneficiaries;
- information about their real estate;
- a request for another living space or a subsidy that will allow you to improve your living conditions on your own.
Citizens, as a rule, do not have any difficulties when collecting documents and preparing an application. But if you wish, you can always turn to the services of intermediaries who will advise and prepare all the necessary papers.
It is worth noting that government assistance in the housing sector can only be used once.
Step-by-step instruction
To sign up for housing expansion, you must:
- Find out from the social security authority whether family benefits are available, and which ones. You can also independently calculate how many square meters of housing per family member. The resulting value must be compared with the norm established by the subject of the Federation (each has its own). If it is less, then this is one of the reasons to apply for government assistance.
- If you meet the requirements, prepare an application. A sample of it can be viewed online.
- Collect the necessary papers (their list can be checked with civil servants) and submit them for consideration along with the application.
- Having received the status of a needy family, sign up for the queue. Even if the line is currently not moving at all, they are still required to accept the applicant’s application, since every family that meets the requirements can take advantage of the right provided for by law.
- Regularly check movement in line. At least once a year it is necessary to visit the institution to which the application was submitted to look at the lists to see if the name is there and the current status in the queue.
Sample certificate of entitlement to housing benefits for health reasons:
What documents are needed to be placed on a waiting list for improved housing conditions?
In general, the queue for improving housing conditions is part of the social target program “Housing”. It began its operation in our country quite a long time ago, and during this time the state has achieved certain successes in solving the housing issue, as well as some other problems. For example, thanks to this federal program, housing construction is actively developing. The quality of provision of housing and communal services has been significantly improved. In addition, the country has reached a new level of mortgage lending - more and more citizens can purchase an apartment, albeit with a mortgage. The employment problem was partially solved due to the expansion of housing construction. The huge production sector rose to a new level in a fairly short time, which contributed to the expansion of construction, and, therefore, to the attraction of new workers in this area.
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To receive a subsidy, you must apply to the social welfare authorities in the form prescribed by law. To do this, draw up the application itself in free form and attach a package of necessary documents to it. In general, the list of papers looks like this:
Receipt procedure
To qualify for the Housing Expansion Program, the most important step is to qualify as needy. It is determined by a special commission, which is appointed by the authorized government agency.
In most cases, documents can be submitted through the MFC, which will forward them to this commission. The completeness of the papers will be checked there. MFC employees do not check the documents for the accuracy of the information provided - this function is assigned directly to the members of the commission.
If the applicant has several grounds for receiving benefits at the same time, he can only use one of them.
After receiving the status of a person in need, you must register in the queue. This can also be done through the MFC or the State Services Internet portal.
How to expand your living space: detailed instructions
Participation in the “Young Family” program provides an opportunity for young families with children to receive financial assistance to purchase their own housing. So, if parents have children, they receive 35% of the cost of housing, if they do not, then 30%. The money can be spent either on repaying a mortgage loan or on a down payment in shared construction.
- Visit the social security authorities to find out whether you are entitled to benefits, what benefits they are, and receive documentary evidence of this.
- Make simple calculations: the total area of housing where the family currently lives must be divided by the number of citizens registered in it. The resulting figure must be compared with the minimum housing standard in your administrative district. We cannot say what these norms are, since they differ in different parts of the country.
- Write an application to improve your living conditions. You can look at a sample on the Internet or write it in a free style. This is not considered an error.
- Submit the necessary documents, a list of which can be obtained from a civil servant, along with an application to the social security authorities or to the administration. They are required to accept your papers, even if the line doesn’t move at all and has been standing still for many years. In addition, no one can prohibit using the right that is prescribed by law.
- Wait your turn. Check back periodically to see if you have been lost on the list and if you have advanced at least one point. This can be done no more than once a year.
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