Focus on rental housing: how to provide citizens with housing in Belarus

Over the five-year period, Belarus plans to build at least 5 million square meters of rental housing. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko instructed to build such apartments where young specialists really need them. Is it possible to provide everyone with the necessary housing? What are the problems in the industry today? Details about this were told in the program “At the control of the President”, released on Thursday, October 8, in the evening broadcast of the TV channel “Belarus 1”.

8 March street in Pruzhany confirms its beautiful name and really blossoms every year - a young quarter is being built here. However, future newcomers are looking forward to another holiday date. The New Year is planned to be celebrated in new walls. At present, almost 80% of the readiness at home. The project is typical, which means that builders save time, budget - money. Vitaly Shipul, Director of the Capital Construction Department of the Pruzhansky District, draws attention to the fact that the developer was Brestzhilstroy, where they design and produce models themselves:

- The previous such house we have already built, according to people, everything is good - spacious stairs, there is where to put strollers, in general, everything for people.

At the same time, the adjacent territory is also being built. It is not just about playgrounds, each apartment has its own free parking space. The new house will have two entrances to 20 apartments, all of them rented. According to the Deputy Chairman of the Pruzhan District Executive Committee Sergey Guk, the demand for rental apartments is very large:

- The term for the distribution of housing is 30 days, there is a list of specialists in demand. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations finance the apartments, they will also be rented, but the owner will not be the district executive committee, but the departments.

To make a choice in favor of rental "squares" can and large families that are in line for improving conditions. As practice shows, this happens, especially if there are three- and four-room apartments. So the demand is really enormous. Unfortunately, the housing issue is sometimes delayed. Demanded areas sometimes stand idle and without the owner.

- In Pruzhany there are examples of idle rental housing. At the end of the half year, 30 apartments of the communal housing stock were empty, 70 percent require repair. Separate apartments without repair are idle for more than three years, says state inspector of the State Control Committee of the Brest region Irina Akulevich.

It is clear that in such cases we are not talking about new buildings, but about an old housing stock, which once for various reasons passed into communal ownership. But these areas can and should benefit the community. The main thing is to create comfortable conditions. The State Control Committee is also looking for reserves: cases of overestimation of the cost of works and materials are periodically recorded, intermediaries are excluded - and the amounts immediately go down. Savings allow you to renovate even more apartments, which is an opportunity for people to move in faster.

Veronica and David Tsareva got married this summer. The new stage of life - new square meters. And not a month has passed, as we drove into a three-room rental apartment in Zhabinka, now it is actively equipped. The young family is making plans for years to come, and there is no move there yet. The couple feel at home, it remains to add a little technique and comfort. Why not stay in the area for a long time? Young people say clearly that all conditions are created here. The satellite city is actively developing, and this requires the local authorities to take a special approach to construction.

- We settle waiting lists from Zhabinka, as well as from Brest. It's usually halfway. Every year, 30-40 apartments are also provided to Brest residents, explains Deputy Chairman of the Zhabinkovo District Executive Committee Alexander Stepanyuk.

And many Brest residents agree, because in this way you can solve the housing issue in a matter of months. At the same time, the level and quality of life remain at the usual high level. In recent years, the satellite city of Brest has become much better. Of course, all this requires a lot of money. And here comes the question of fair payment for housing. Today, the cost of renting two in Zabinka, which is about 40 rubles a month, is comparable to renting housing in rural areas. By the way, rental housing in Zhabinka is populated by 96 percent. This is one of the highest rates in the region, and in principle in the country. Such square meters are a state asset that is designed to solve personnel tasks important for the economy. It must work effectively. This was stated by the President at a recent meeting on September 22 in the Palace of Independence: — Supervisory authorities note the presence of systemic shortcomings in the planning and financing of construction, as well as in the subsequent use of rental housing. New apartments are built not under real need, but for the sake of completing the tasks. A disaster, isn't it? At the same time, regions sometimes complain that there is no need not only for construction, but also sources of financing. It turns out that Grodno or Mogilev regions do not need housing, and someone imposes on them the construction of this housing. And that's one of the main problems. Executive committees do not keep a centralized record of citizens who want to get a rental apartment. The situation on the market and on paper is very different. At the suggestion of the State Control Committee, amendments to the legislation are being prepared to resolve the issue: executive committees will oblige to keep records of citizens who want to get a rental apartment. Another important aspect is that apartments should not be empty.

First Deputy Head of the Department for Agriculture and Food of the Dzerzhinsky District Executive Committee Olga Lazovik recently went for a promotion, however, for this I had to change the place of residence. Instead of Soligorsk, Dzerzhinsk. He said moving was easy because he had a place to go.

A strong basis for comfortable living is created by housing workers. Thanks to their efforts, the old housing stock gets a second life - a number of apartments in Dzerzhinsk are already ready to accept new settlers. For these purposes, for 8 months of this year, 52 thousand rubles were spent. However, some objects require especially large infusions. An example is the agro-town Negligible. On its outskirts there is a military unit, and next to the house where the military once lived. Today it is already a rental fund, but in order for it to be useful, you must first restore order.

A similar situation throughout the Minsk region – more than a thousand uninhabited rental premises have been identified here. Not only do they not bring income, they have to pay for their maintenance. Last year alone, 600 thousand rubles were spent. At the same time, the special accounts of the regional executive committees remain significant funds received from the rental of housing, which can be used to repair empty apartments. Obviously, we need to act more quickly.

As for the capital, every fifth tenant in Minsk has debts. At the same time, effective measures to reduce debt are not taken, said the head of the State Control Committee Andrey Miranovich:

- In general, the debt for rental housing in the last three years has also increased significantly. Today we are talking about the amount of 20 million rubles. Although there is a mechanism for recovery: you do not pay for six months - there are all grounds to evict the debtor in another, less comfortable rental housing. And yet there are much more conscientious payers. It is worth noting that certain workers already have the opportunity to buy out rental housing, whether the conditions will change - time will tell. This issue was also discussed at the September meeting with the President. However, as well as the entire further strategy of construction and operation of rental housing. But it is clear that this trend remains in force for years to come. It has already proven its effectiveness for the state and people. celyuk@sb.by