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- They will check seven times: the accounts and estimates of developers in the field of residential housing will be taken under strict control
They will check seven times: the accounts and estimates of developers in the field of residential housing will be taken under strict control
Data on banks and estimates of builders of country houses will be taken under control in order to protect property buyers. The Cabinet of Ministers has supported a bill that will allow regional authorities to verify the accuracy and relevance of information posted by developers in the unified housing information system. This will help to control the design and estimate documentation, the movement of finances and the progress of construction. Developers often delay the introduction of changed data, upload incomplete or unreliable documentation, and people who have invested in housing cannot receive it in a timely manner.
Why do we need additional control measures?
The authorities will strengthen control over developers in the field of individual housing construction (IHS): the government has supported a bill that will allow regions to verify data posted by developers in the Unified Housing Information System (UISWS). The initiative was introduced by a group of senators in May this year and may be considered in the autumn session of the State Duma.
"The adoption of the federal law will contribute to improving the legal regulation of control and supervisory activities and contribute to increasing the transparency of the individual housing construction market. The Russian government supports the bill, taking into account its refinement," the document says (Izvestia has it).
As noted in the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services, amendments to legislation will come into force on September 1, 2026, which will complete the formation of a system for protecting citizens during the construction of individual residential buildings using escrow accounts.
— The amendments eliminate a legal gap and give the regions clear powers to monitor contractors. Let me remind you that in Russia there is a mechanism that allows citizens to use escrow accounts. The law obliges contractors — legal entities and individual entrepreneurs — to disclose information about themselves, house projects and, most importantly, about the authorized bank where such an account is opened, in the UIC. However, until now, the law has not spelled out the subject of regional control over compliance with these requirements and the procedure for conducting inspections," Vladimir Koshelev, first deputy chairman of the committee, explained to Izvestia.
According to him, this created legal uncertainty and did not allow the authorities to respond effectively to violations.
— The bill eliminates this. Monitoring contractors' compliance with the procedure and deadlines for posting information and information necessary for the construction of residential buildings using escrow in the Unified Housing Stock Exchange is now included in the list of powers of regional authorities," the legislator noted.
According to Sergey Pakhomov, head of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services, this will increase the effectiveness of monitoring compliance with current requirements and additionally protect the property interests of citizens.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Construction and the Cabinet of Ministers with a request to comment on the importance of the bill for citizens.
Meanwhile, many cases have already been recorded when home buyers face problems due to the actions of developers. For example, in Tatarstan, in addition to distorting the parameters in the documents, the Townhouses and Houses company did not properly inspect the site before starting work. In some cases, houses were built without taking into account urban planning restrictions, for example, in areas with special conditions for the use of territories (near gas pipelines, power lines, in water protection zones). This was not recorded in the documentation, and the town-planning plan of the land plot was not requested. As a result, after the construction, a notification came that the house was in a zone where construction was prohibited or restricted — it was impossible to reconstruct such an object, in the future there was a risk of demanding that part of the building be demolished. According to investigators, the group's members created companies under the guise of building residential buildings, but in fact stole customer funds: more than 65 citizens lost over 260 million rubles.
In the Moscow Region, StroyGarant did not post monthly photos of the progress of work in the system. Plus, there were discrepancies in the project declaration: the area of the houses in the documents did not match the one that was actually included in the project. The perpetrators were also brought to justice.
Why does business consider the new control redundant
Representatives of the construction business believe that the current control system is sufficient today. The Central Bank already has the right to control information about banks in the UIC, which effectively performs the functions of a supervisory authority, says Dmitry Proskurin, commercial director of Metrium.
— There is no objective reason to make this information publicly available. Moreover, it can become a breeding ground for various abuses and an increase in the number of cases of "consumer extremism." There is no reason to change what is already working successfully," the industry representative believes.
According to him, since the extension of the escrow account mechanism to the multi-family housing market in 2019 and to the residential housing market in 2025, not a single case of fraud in this area has been recorded.
— Up-to-date information about the bank where funds are deposited in escrow accounts is certainly important for buyers and increases market transparency. However, this measure alone does not become a key mechanism for protecting shareholders. Today, buyers' funds are already protected by the escrow system, and projects are under the control of banks and supervisory authorities," said Vasily Timofeev, CEO of the St. Petersburg construction company City Solutions.
According to him, a reduction in project implementation time will have a greater effect on protecting shareholders. This requires more active government support in resolving issues of technological connection, coordination of projects for the planning of territories, construction of junctions to the road network and other administrative procedures, he believes. The faster such barriers are eliminated, the lower the risks of construction delays and additional costs for developers, which means that the probability of timely transfer of housing to buyers is higher. It is these measures that can have the most noticeable impact on the sustainability of the industry and the protection of the interests of buyers of new buildings, the expert added.
Izvestia sent inquiries to other developers.
Maxim Fedorchenko, President of the Association of Construction Organizations of the Novosibirsk Region, at the same time acknowledged the high level of abuse by developers in the construction of individual residential buildings using mortgage funds from citizens. Therefore, the legislator could provide for a wider range of controls, the expert believes. For now, he said, it remains to be expected that the necessary level of supervision will still be provided by authorized banks, which, as part of project financing, are interested in the targeted use of credit facilities and minimizing the risks of abuse.
Svetlana Razvorotneva, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services, notes that the bill is important to combat the delay in housing commissioning, the level of which is quite high in the regions of Russia.
— Theoretically, banks should monitor the fulfillment of obligations by developers, but they do not do this. Sometimes there is even a suspicion that they are only interested in having money in their accounts. Therefore, unfortunately, no one is currently performing the function of controlling deadlines," she notes.
According to her, it is important that construction supervisors in the regions monitor not only the quality of construction, but also compliance with schedules and deadlines. In addition, these new powers should be complemented by new penalties for non-compliance.
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