Can housing really become affordable?

It is obvious that the National Project “Affordable and Comfortable Housing for Citizens of Russia”, followed by the Federal Target Program “Housing” and other national housing programs promoted by the Government of Russia, are aimed primarily at solving the housing problems of socially vulnerable citizens: military personnel, young families , displaced people, dilapidated and dilapidated housing, etc. In general, this is about 20% of the Russian population. About 20% of families with incomes below the average level (primarily state employees) can also expect to purchase housing with support from the state. Another 10 - 15% of the population solve their housing problems on their own, either by simply buying housing at the current exorbitant prices, or by deciding on a mortgage with all the attendant risks and encumbrances.

That is, only about 55% of Russians can somehow solve their “housing issue.” Other families do not have such an opportunity in principle. And this despite the fact that about 70% of Russians want to improve their living conditions. Calculations show that 35% of Russian citizens (16 million families), having incomes above the average level (now it is about 250 thousand rubles per year for each citizen of Russia), cannot purchase housing at the current very high market price, even using the mortgage lending mechanism, but are ready to do this if the cost of housing becomes affordable.

Thus, it can be stated that a pent-up demand for housing has formed in the country, supported by the income and savings of a very significant group of the population. An effective and safe mechanism is needed so that these funds can be used in the housing market, provided that housing is built at affordable prices for the population. This is especially important in the context of the economic crisis and cuts in budget funding for most government programs.

At the same time, in recent years, housing of 0.5-0.6 sq.m. has been built. per person per year, although to normalize the situation it is necessary to build housing of at least 1 sq.m. within 5-7 years. per person per year. The federal target program “Providing affordable and comfortable housing and utilities to citizens of the Russian Federation” is necessary and timely, but is aimed mainly at the population group with incomes below the average level. This Program sets the goal of building 100 million sq.m. in 2021.

However, there are mechanisms that will increase the volume of construction to 142-150 million square meters. m of housing per year, that is, 50 million sq.m. And at the same time, it is proposed not to ask for more and more portions of money from the state, but to form a non-state solvent order from the population ready to buy housing at reasonable prices. That is, it is proposed to turn the housing market upside down, where the price of housing will be dictated not by the developer, but by the buyer. At the same time, in the process of developing a non-state order for each specific region, the optimal price for housing is calculated, which will satisfy both the buyer and the developer.

What kind of housing is considered affordable?

At the round table in the Public Chamber, the concept of affordable housing was discussed very actively. It was proposed to introduce it by the chairman of the board of directors of the Irkutsk Regional Mortgage Agency, Vladimir Shcherbakov.

Affordable housing is housing with a price not higher than the affordability threshold, purchased according to a safe payment scheme, where the affordability threshold is the price per square meter of housing (apartment 54 sq. m.), which can be purchased by a family of 3 people with an average income using mortgage loan at current rates, paying a 30% down payment and then paying monthly on the mortgage loan no more than 30% of family income.

A safe payment scheme is a scheme in which the buyer pays 10% at the conclusion of the contract, 20% before completion of construction and 70% after completion of construction.

This introduces the concept of “affordable housing” as an opportunity for a family with an average income to purchase an apartment on affordable terms. That is, a new housing market is opening for 33% of the population.

The concept of affordable housing is necessary for the formation of a non-state solvent order. Currently, the number of families with an average income and above in Russia is about 15.6 million. If at least every fifth family takes advantage of the opportunities provided, a solvent order for 180 million square meters of housing will be formed. A non-state order will make it possible to understand how much and what kind of housing needs to be built in the regions, and based on this, provide construction companies with orders and the workload of construction industry enterprises.

The affordability threshold at today's incomes will enable builders with large volumes of construction, using economies of scale, to make a solid profit.

The average salary in the Russian Federation according to ROSSTAT is 31,000 rubles. The affordability threshold that corresponds to this salary with a 15-year mortgage loan at a loan rate of 11% per annum is RUB 43,400. Obviously, in different regions this indicator will vary in proportion to regional average salaries.

Economic effect

With an average housing price of 55 thousand rubles/sq.m. it is possible to attract almost 8 trillion rubles of Russian citizens to the country's economy. This could give a strong boost to the entire Russian economy.

Taking into account that the total share of tax payments in the final cost of housing is approximately 40-45%, with the construction of an additional 150 million sq.m. housing, budgets of all levels may receive from 750 billion to 1 trillion. rubles of taxes annually.

Since the construction of affordable housing can be carried out entirely on the basis of the products of the Russian building materials industry, we should expect an increase in production and, as a consequence, an increase in the tax base of enterprises.

The multiplicative effect is shown in more detail in the diagram (/files/ck/1417988631_Shema_dlya_VVP.xlsx).

Since within the framework of this program the most effective is the construction of residential complexes with an area of ​​50 to 250 thousand square meters, companies with experience in mass housing construction should be involved. These can be both the largest Russian and regional companies, and, for example, Chinese developers participating in the implementation of Russian state programs.

State as a partner

It is obvious that the implementation of a non-state program of affordable housing still requires political and organizational support from the highest echelons of power and, above all, the President and the Government of Russia.

That is why Deputy Minister - State Secretary of the Ministry of Construction of Russia Alexander Plutnik and Deputy Head of the Department of the Ministry of Finance of Russia Sergei Platonov were invited and came to the hearings at the Public Chamber of Russia. They took an active part in the discussion of the proposed affordable housing program and showed, one might say, a real interest in its development.

Thus, Alexander Plutnik suggested thinking about how to use the capabilities of the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending to form a non-state order from the population. And Sergei Platonov, of course, most liked the idea of ​​bringing into financial circulation those funds that are now accumulated in the accounts of the population and do not work in the economy. And most importantly, you don’t need any budget money!

Secretary of the Public Chamber Alexander Brechalov supported a very interesting and cost-effective initiative and invited the hearing participants to formulate specific proposals for the annual report of the Public Chamber to the President of Russia.

Thus, the first step towards the emergence of a much needed program for the citizens of Russia for the construction and acquisition of truly affordable housing has been taken.

Obviously, it will not be very popular with some developers who sell housing at exorbitant prices with a profit margin of more than 50%. However, those companies that can calculate all the benefits from a long-term, stable, paid order will be the champions of the implementation of this program in the regions.

Elena SHINKORENKO

This material was published in the November issue of the Industry magazine “Construction”. You can read or download the entire magazine here .

Citizens of Russia – affordable and comfortable housing

K.I. Lvovich, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor

Housing construction, due to its special social significance, goes far beyond the scope of the construction industry. Housing construction poses a national priority task of reforming the socio-economic foundations of the Russian Federation to solve a number of pressing social problems affecting almost the entire population of the country . More than 2/3 of Russians need improved housing conditions.

The national program “Affordable and comfortable housing for Russian citizens” has practically failed. The cost of the most modest apartment turned out to be absolutely unaffordable for most citizens. The government's hopes that low-rise construction would solve the problem of affordable housing turned out to be just as unfounded as in the case of high-rise construction.

However, the experience of solving the housing problem in a number of countries (America - the famous Levittowns, pre-war Germany, China) has shown the fundamental possibility of implementing a program for the construction of affordable low-rise buildings, including for the low-income part of the population.

Why is it not possible to implement the program in Russia?

The reasons are obvious: unjustifiably high monopolization in construction and banking, the high cost of land and communications connections, bureaucratic barriers and much, much more.

But all of these are issues of legislation and political will, which will sooner or later be resolved, because the social significance of the problem is too great. Legislators and the government will be forced to take the necessary measures. And then the main issue of affordable housing will be on the agenda - the availability of high-quality, cheap building materials and construction technologies.

However, slogans, declarations and enthusiastic reports about increasing construction volumes are not the result. We need a real program for implementing the national project. And mistakes here are expensive.

Moreover, in the USSR a program was already being implemented to resettle people from communal apartments, basements, and premises unsuitable for housing into separate apartments. And then it was a well-thought-out program, which began with the involvement of the country's leading research and design institutes in its development, with extensive local familiarization with the experience of such construction abroad, with the development and discussion of its concept, as well as the development of manufacturing technology for basic structures house building, concepts of mass production, pilot construction of buildings.

This was almost the only completed popular program. One can have different views on its results, but one thing is clear: the program was implemented as a result of the creation of the building materials industry and the technology of mass housing construction.

More than 50 years have passed since its completion: the technical requirements for housing, its level of comfort have changed and, most importantly, the form of ownership has changed. It is impossible to solve the problem of building affordable housing with the help of the existing construction industry, which has changed little over the years, adding administrative resources and financial mechanisms to it. And if the implementation of the national program begins with the purchase of wall materials factories abroad worth tens of millions of dollars and with a 20% mortgage, which, given the gigantic housing shortage, only unwinds the price spiral, then its failure is inevitable. Of course, that's what happened.

Essentially, the housing construction program must (at least in this part) answer three main questions: what to build (the program of the 60s had a clear answer: at the first stage - five-story panel buildings without an elevator); what to build from (the main nomenclature of the 60s was a load-bearing and heat-protective expanded clay concrete wall panel of complete factory readiness and a hollow-core prestressed reinforced concrete floor slab); how to build - a minimum of “wet” processes, installation - by welding embedded parts.

Without pretending to cover the problem completely, we will present our position by answering the same questions for the modern construction program.

What to build? The answer to this question is less clear. If the program of the 60s was focused on the construction of buildings in cities, now, in our opinion, similar structures for low- and high-rise construction should be developed in parallel, based on modern technologies of formless molding. Moreover, for wall materials that work primarily in compression, these should be unreinforced products.

What to build from? The material for mass construction is obvious. This is concrete, in our opinion, the cheapest of them is sand concrete. The structural forms of mass products made of sand concrete, the technology of their production and installation are discussed below. Within the framework of the program, one more task should be solved: to streamline the existing state of the concrete industry and, first of all, to provide factories and construction sites with high-quality aggregates and cement [1].

Let's return to the issue of structures, technologies and equipment for the construction of inexpensive comfortable housing. The main technology of the sixties was (and still is) flow-aggregate. First, the mold is prepared (cleaning, lubricating), then the fittings are manufactured and installed into it (assembling and fixing frames, installing embedded parts, hinges). Next, the mold is moved to the molding station, where the concrete mixture is laid and compacted. Then the mold is transferred to the heat and humidity treatment chamber, and from there to the formwork post, where it is opened to remove the product, cleaned and closed again.

Thus, operations with molds and crane operations are carried out at each technological station. The absence of molds significantly simplifies, reduces the cost and speeds up the technological process. Therefore, modern technologies are, first of all, formless molding technologies.

Analysis of the current situation made it possible to develop a concept for the construction of affordable housing, the distinctive features of which are:

- use of the cheapest local material as the only filler in concrete - construction sand or industrial waste replacing it;

— implementation of a wide range of architectural and planning solutions;

— the use of a unified range of prefabricated products, the vast majority of which are piece-piece unreinforced, providing the possibility of both mechanized and completely manual installation of buildings (for low-rise construction);

— the use of technologies for manufacturing products without molds: vibrocompression for the production of small-sized piece products and continuous molding on long stands for the production of molded products;

— inclusion of small architectural forms in the range of products for landscaping;

— organization of production of all structures “at home” in the conditions of small enterprises characterized by low capital intensity and quick payback.

A range of concrete products (currently for low-rise construction) manufactured by vibrocompression has been developed. It includes: foundation blocks, foundation pads, blocks of external and internal walls, partitions and ceilings. Cement-sand tiles, landscaping and finishing products are also produced: fencing parts, paving slabs, side stones, small architectural forms. In addition, a range of prestressed concrete products manufactured by continuous molding is produced: floor slabs and beams, lintels, piles.

Both technologies not only eliminate the use of molds in the manufacture of structures, but also allow the use of natural sands that meet the standard as the only filler. For the production of structures, sand concrete with varying degrees of porosity is used:

— especially dense vibration-pressed (tiles, finishing and landscaping elements);

— made by vibrocompression from lean mixtures with air entrainment up to 8% (blocks of internal walls, partitions and ceilings);

— vibropressed foam concrete with air entrainment from 10 to 60% (thermal block shell);

— made from hard and moderately hard cement-sand mixtures using continuous molding technology (beams and floor slabs, lintels);

— technical foam mineralized by cement, including up to 95% of entrained air (slab insulation, thermoblock filling).

Sand, the only aggregate in sand concrete, is the cheapest and most common building material. Its cost for most regions of Russia is 2-3 times lower than the cost of crushed hard rock and 5-6 times lower than the cost of expanded clay gravel

Thermoblock – load-bearing and heat-protective material for external walls

To implement the proposed construction system, a number of new technical solutions have been developed, one of which is the thermoblock wall material.

The need to ensure the heat-protective properties of enclosing structures does not allow the production of wall blocks from sand concrete, which has low thermophysical characteristics. On the other hand, the use of expanded clay concrete, polystyrene concrete and other concretes with lightweight aggregate would lead to a significant increase in construction costs and complexity of the technological process. The latter also implies the creation of additional warehouses, supply routes, and transportation of expensive aggregates from other regions.

Thus, the main challenge in the concept of housing construction using sand concrete in the field of structures is the development of a low-cost wall material that meets the requirements for both load-bearing capacity and thermal protection. This is all the more significant since wall materials and partitions account for up to 60% of the total volume of concrete products used in the construction of buildings.

The thermoblock (RU patent No. 2030527) is a product with dimensions of 390 x 190 x 188 mm, including a shell of sand concrete and a filling of cement-mineralized technical foam (MP) with a volumetric mass of 150 kg/m3 (Fig. 1).

rice. 1. Thermoblock design. Laying scheme

The shells are made on vibratory pressing equipment designed for the production of slotted blocks (Fig. 2). At the same time, 5-20 shells are produced, which are filled with MP at the next technological station “wet” and, after packaging, are sent to the heat and humidity treatment chamber. The load-bearing functions in the thermoblock are performed by the shell, and the heat-protective functions are performed by the MP filling.

rice. 2. Thermoblock production line

The use of mineralized foam as filling eliminates the use of base materials other than cement and sand in the product. The characteristics of the materials used for the manufacture of thermoblocks are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Characteristics of materials for thermoblocks

The production of thermoblock shells by vibrocompression allows you to calibrate the dimensions of products with millimeter accuracy and lay them in the wall on a layer of cement adhesive up to 3 mm thick. This not only reduces the consumption of masonry material, but also significantly (up to 20%) increases the thermal uniformity of the wall.

Vibropressing provides unique possibilities for finishing blocks. By changing the shape of the matrix, it is possible to produce blocks with a relief, curved and broken outline of the front face. The introduction of pigments into the cement-sand mixture makes it possible to obtain colored blocks. It is also possible to include in the technological process the procedure for painting the outer edge of the blocks. When producing paired blocks and then splitting them, a “chipped” and “fluted” texture of the front face of the block is achieved, practically indistinguishable from the texture of natural stone. Splitting equipment can also be included in the process cycle.

In conditions where the load-bearing and heat-protective functions in the product are separated, the strength and deformation characteristics of the MP are not decisive for the quality of the thermoblock. Moreover, even the value of the maximum relative shrinkage deformation - one of the most significant characteristics for foam concrete - is not significant due to the small volume of MP in an individual product. The presence of cement in the composition of the MP ensures its reliable adhesion to the concrete of the shell.

As a result of the research, highly porous finely dispersed foam concrete with a density of 150 kg/m3 with a closed, homogeneous cellular structure was obtained. Tests have established the thermal conductivity coefficients of foam concrete “150” in a dry state and at equilibrium moisture content of the material (4.7%), which were, respectively, λ o = 0.028 and λ p = 0.036 W/(m K).

Depending on the purpose of thermoblocks (for frame buildings, low-rise buildings, multi-storey buildings with load-bearing walls) and on the region of construction, the shell of the products should have different strength and density in accordance with calculations. Comparative economic characteristics of single-layer walls of low-rise buildings made of thermoblocks and other wall materials in the Moscow region are shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Comparative cost of basic building materials for the Moscow region

The possibility of obtaining products whose characteristics fully comply with the requirements of product standards, made from the cheapest materials and using technology that eliminates manual operations, makes thermoblocks the cheapest wall material in Russia.

The solution to the main problem - obtaining cheap high-quality wall material - allows the construction of mini-factories, mini-DSK, enterprises where the entire range of products “for home” is produced from sand concrete, including elements of landscaping and small architectural forms.

Mini-factory for the production of products for low-rise construction

As an example of organizing production, we can cite a mini-factory that houses technological equipment that allows the production of a complete set of products for low-rise construction (Fig. 3).

rice. 3. Mini-factory for the production of products for low-rise construction

The equipment includes a line for continuous molding of molded prestressed structures (slabs and beams of floors, lintels, piles), a line for vibratory pressing of small-piece products (foundation blocks, foundation pads, thermoblocks, blocks of internal walls, partitions, filling of floors). In addition, the mini-factory includes two sections - vibration-pressed cement-sand tiles and landscaping elements.

The range also includes products that allow craneless installation of low-rise buildings.

All products are made from sand concrete with varying degrees of porosity. It is not planned to build a reinforcement shop at the mini-plant. Molded structures are reinforced only with high-strength wire VpII without indirect reinforcement and loops. The wire is supplied to the enterprise in coils and does not require pre-treatment.

The plant's productivity is 20 thousand m2 of housing per year or 45 thousand m3 of concrete and reinforced concrete products for the construction of 145 one-story and 57 two-story economy class houses with an area of ​​95 and 122 m2, respectively.

The launch complex includes a molding shop, a concrete mixing unit (two mixers with a capacity of 20 m3 of rigid concrete mixture per hour), aggregate and cement warehouses. The molding shop includes two lines: KRM-1025 for the production of small-piece products and Tekhnospan for the production of molded prestressed structures. Line capacity: KRM-1025 28 thousand m3 of small-piece products per year (two-shift work, 70% load), “Technospan” - 17 thousand m3 (single-shift work, 70% load) of prestressed reinforced concrete.

In addition, the molding shop includes two sections based on VPC-2 and VIP-6 machines. The first (with a capacity of 25 thousand m2/year) is intended for the production of tiles, the second (with a capacity of 30 thousand m2/year for paving slabs) – for the production of landscaping elements.

When using mini-factory products, the construction cost (sales price) per square meter in a one-story house with an area of ​​95 m2 with exterior and interior decoration (excluding the cost of land and connection to networks) is 13 thousand rubles, or 1.24 million rubles for a turnkey house.

Thus, our position on the issues of what to build, what to build from, what technologies and equipment are available for the production of the necessary range of building materials and the construction system itself has been determined. The construction cost per square meter of housing in economy-class houses has also been determined.

However, this is only part of the funds needed to buy a home. What does its real cost consist of?

According to NAMICS data for a number of regions where “other expenses” are not prohibitive:

25% – construction cost of the house (cost of building materials and construction);

15% – exterior and interior decoration;

30% – cost of land, including territorial planning, transfer of land from one category to another;

30% – cost of connecting to networks.

From this list, however, it is unclear who should solve infrastructure issues (schools, kindergartens, clinics) and build roads.

What are the ways to solve this group of problems?

Land is a national treasure and belongs to Russian citizens by birthright. Officials consider the land as their property and are not going to transfer it free of charge to developers even by government decision (the Far Eastern hectare is the best example of this).

Connecting to networks . There is no point in building a house without connecting to the networks. Only connection to networks makes a house a home. The maximum that can be entrusted to the developer is the wiring of the network from the highway to the house.

Infrastructure . All of the above is earth,

connection to networks and infrastructure are the direct responsibility of the welfare state, and this is the only way the program for building affordable housing is being implemented throughout the world.

And one last thing. I have repeatedly spoken at various conferences, including international ones, with the proposals outlined above, which also included my own developments in the designs of low-rise buildings (Fig. 4 a, b) and new building materials (in the “Thermoblock” program there are six patents of the Russian Federation).

a) Cottage

b) Town house for 4 families

rice. 4 a), b). Low-rise houses with walls made of thermoblocks

Interest in the program was shown mainly by foreign forum participants (Indonesia, Bulgaria, India, Israel). Russian builders believe that the prices given are completely unrealistic, just as free land is unrealistic.

There is no point in arguing - opinion can be opposed either by calculations or facts. Calculations of the cost of a low-rise building have been carried out and published [2]. (The monograph is available on the Internet). Here are the facts. The implementation of the social program for the development of low-rise construction “Your Home” is being carried out in Bashkiria. Residents of the republic in the suburbs of Ufa are provided with free plots of 10-12 acres. In total, within 5 years it is planned to build 5 thousand houses, the cost of which is 10-14 thousand rubles/m2.

The republic will undertake the construction of utility networks, utility infrastructure and roads.

The Housing Construction Fund of Bashkiria has been allocated funds to provide citizens with mortgage loans at 8% per annum. It turns out that this is possible when the government does not seek to make money from its citizens, but to help them.

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Literature:

1 TO. I. Lvovich. The state and ways of reorganizing the concrete and reinforced concrete production industry. Concrete products and structures No. 1, 2021.

K. I. Lvovich. Thermoblock. Affordable housing construction system. Stroybeton, S-P, 2011.