Use of the local area: rules, laws

The concept of local area

First of all, of course, it is necessary to understand what is included in the definition of “domestic area”. To do this, it is necessary to refer to such legal acts as the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 13, 2006. No. 491 “On approval of the rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building and the rules for changing the amount of payment for the maintenance and repair of residential premises in the case of the provision of services and performance of work on the management, maintenance and repair of common property in an apartment building of inadequate quality and (or) intermittently, exceeding the established duration.”

In accordance with these legislative acts, the adjacent territory is considered to be a land plot on which an apartment building is located, and the boundaries of which are determined on the basis of state cadastral registration data, with elements of landscaping and landscaping, as well as other objects intended for the maintenance, operation and improvement of an apartment building , including transformer substations, heating points intended to serve one apartment building, collective parking lots, garages, children's and sports grounds located within the boundaries of the land plot on which the apartment building is located. According to the law, the maintenance of the local area is entrusted to the residents of the house - depending on the total area of the apartment belonging to a particular resident, his share in the common ownership of the property of the house is calculated - the larger the apartment, the greater the burden of expenses must be borne by the person for the maintenance of the common property of the house, including including the surrounding area.

What is included in the local area and who should pay for its maintenance

In accordance with the Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 13, 2006 N 491), the common property includes the land plot on which the apartment building is located, and the boundaries of which are determined on the basis of state cadastral registration data, with elements of landscaping and improvement, as well as other objects intended for the maintenance, operation and improvement of an apartment building, including:

transformer substations,
heating points designed to serve one apartment building,
collective parking lots, garages,
children's and sports grounds.

Consequently, the local area is part of the common property and homeowners must pay for its maintenance, including its improvement. The adjacent territory belongs to an apartment building; its operation and maintenance is carried out together with the house itself, from one source.

According to Part 1 of Article 158 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the owner of premises in an apartment building is obliged to participate in the costs of maintaining common property in proportion to his share in the right of common ownership. The share in the right of common ownership, in turn, is proportional to the total area of the premises owned by the person on the right of ownership (Article 15 of the Federal Law “On the Enactment of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation”). It turns out that the larger the area of the apartment, the more its owner will have to pay for the maintenance of the local area and other common property.

How are the boundaries of the local area determined?

The Federal Law “On the Enactment of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation” provides that in order to transfer into common shared ownership the land plot on which the apartment building and other real estate objects and adjacent territory included in such a house are located, must go through the procedure of forming a land plot and placing it on state cadastral registration. To do this, a person authorized by the general meeting of premises owners must contact state authorities or local governments with a corresponding application. In turn, public authorities are obliged to consider such an application and take the necessary actions to form a land plot and register it with the state cadastral register. Only after the formation of a land plot and its registration with the state cadastral register will the land plot pass free of charge into the common shared ownership of the owners of premises in an apartment building.

Sanitary maintenance is an integral part of a single set of works for the maintenance and repair of housing stock.

Landscaping is a set of activities carried out on the territory aimed at improving the operational and aesthetic characteristics of the territories and providing for one of the following types of work (or a complex of them):

architectural and planning organization of the territory;
landscaping; installation of architectural lighting, water supply;
placement of small architectural forms, urban design objects, advertising, visual communication and information, works of monumental and decorative art.

The management organization, on a paid basis, provides services for the maintenance of the common property of apartment buildings and bears full responsibility for the provision of services of inadequate quality when choosing a method of managing an apartment building by concluding an agreement with the management organization.

In turn, the owners of the premises, in accordance with the terms of the contract, have the right to check the volume, quality and frequency of provision of services and work, demand that the responsible persons eliminate identified defects and check the completeness and timeliness of their elimination.

Services for the sanitary maintenance of premises and adjacent areas, as well as landscaping, include:

cleaning common areas;
cleaning of local areas;
cleaning of underground parking lots;
disinfection, disinfestation, deratization of premises;
garbage and snow removal;
device, lawn mowing;
planting flowers, care in summer;
production of metal fences for courtyards;
production of children's slides and sandboxes;
installation and repair of summer playgrounds;
cleaning and painting of facade cladding, gates, grilles, benches;
Cleaning the local area.

The unsatisfactory sanitary condition of local areas currently continues to be a serious problem in the housing and communal services sector. Specialists of Rospotrebnadzor services, in the course of monitoring activities in relation to entities engaged in the provision of services in the field of housing and communal services, constantly identify typical violations. For example, such as untimely or improperly performed cleaning of a land plot that is part of the common property in an apartment building, as well as untimely collection and removal of solid household waste.

When providing services and performing work of inadequate quality, the management organization is obliged to reduce the amount of payment in accordance with the Rules for changing the amount of payment for the maintenance and repair of residential premises in the case of provision of services and performance of management work, common property in an apartment building of inadequate quality and (or) intermittently exceeding the established duration. An application to change the amount of payment can be sent by the owner in writing or made orally within 6 months after the relevant violation and is subject to mandatory registration.

The basis for reducing the amount of payment for the maintenance of common property is an act drawn up between the owner and the management company, which reflects the facts of the provision of services of inadequate quality.

Maintenance of the local area

To understand which territory will be considered adjacent to each house, it is necessary that the corresponding land plot be formalized accordingly. The procedure for registering the adjacent territory must be handled by local authorities (local administration), however, this procedure must be initiated by the residents of the house themselves - either an authorized representative of the HOA or another person authorized by the general meeting of the house must submit a corresponding application to the local administration.

Based on the submitted application, the authorities must take the necessary measures to form a land plot and register it with the cadastral register. Based on clause 7 of Art. 36 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 4 of Art. 43 of the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation, the boundaries and dimensions of a land plot within the boundaries of built-up areas are established taking into account the actual land use, red lines, adjacent land plots (if any), the natural boundaries of the land plot and town planning standards and rules in force during the development of these territories. Transfer of a land plot into common shared ownership to residents of an apartment building is free of charge. The adjacent territory belonging to an apartment building must be described in detail in the technical passport of the house.

I would like to note the following legislative nuance. The adjacent territory belongs to the right of common shared ownership to the owners of premises in an apartment building. What is included in the concept of local area has already been indicated above. However, often, houses are located relatively close to roads, sidewalks, courtyards and intra-block driveways in such a way (in particular, so close) that all these roads, driveways and sidewalks seem to automatically fall into the category of “domestic area”.

Although from a legal point of view this is incorrect - this territory is a common area, and it cannot be in the common shared ownership of the residents of the house, like a local area. However, due to the proximity of these objects to residential apartment buildings, the maintenance (in particular, cleaning) of sidewalks, roads, and driveways is automatically assigned to the residents of the buildings, as if it were their local area. In this regard, it is very important to know which specific territory is assigned to each individual house as a local area, in order, if necessary, to defend your rights to improve it.

Who is responsible for the local area of an apartment building?

The law has a single opinion on this matter - it is either the Management Company or another organization hired by the Homeowners Association - if it is the legal owner of the area adjacent to the house, and for this a number of requirements must be met.

But first things first. First you need to define the concept. This is what is included in the designated territory (Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 491 of 08/13/06):

a plot of land where the house stands, and its boundaries are determined by the Cadastral Chamber;
green spaces;
garages;
children's towns;
fire passages;
clothes dryers;
thermal installations;
parking;
sports grounds.

In a word - those objects within the boundaries of the site, the purpose of which is to serve the needs of this apartment building and those who live in it (Article 36 of the Housing Code.)

The area of this plot, as well as everything that is included in it, is indicated in the Cadastral passport.

If this piece of land is not properly registered and does not have a cadastral passport, then the responsibility for caring for it falls on the shoulders of the municipality. The initiators of registering a plot of land for cadastral registration must be the owners themselves - the head of the HOA must apply to the municipality.

Activities to improve the local area

As mentioned above, in the local area there may be all kinds of buildings and structures necessary for the use of the house by residents. Most often, such buildings and structures include utility areas for drying clothes, cleaning clothes, carpets and household items; recreation areas for adults; children's playgrounds and sports grounds with landscaping and the necessary equipment of small architectural forms for summer and winter recreation of children. Thus, measures for the improvement and maintenance of the local area include not only work on sanitary cleaning of the land plot, which is considered a local area, but also other work on the maintenance and repair of objects located in this territory.

It should be noted that the adjacent territory of houses with a HOA management form can be used by the HOA at its discretion - this is the right of the HOA, which can be exercised by it or not, at its discretion. For example, the HOA has the right to build playgrounds on it, plant flower beds, fence it, improve it in other ways, etc. But even if the HOA does not carry out such events on its local territory, it is still obliged to keep its territory clean and okay.

Cleaning of the local area is carried out either by the management company or, under an agreement with the residents of the house, by the relevant organization. Residents of the house have the right to determine the frequency and scope of services provided by these organizations for the maintenance and improvement of the local area, as well as check the quality of such work.

List of works for the maintenance and improvement of the local area

The list of works on the maintenance and improvement of the local area includes work on:

cleaning of common areas, including disinfection of premises;
cleaning underground parking lots;
equipping utility sites for installing waste containers (collectors), bins for food waste;
removal of garbage, snow, drainage of melt and rainwater, ensuring conditions for the safe movement of pedestrians and vehicles in winter, removing snow from roofs and removing icicles;
arrangement and mowing of lawns, care of green spaces, raking leaves, cleaning up mown grass;
planting flowers and caring for them in the summer;
repair and production of improvement objects: production of children's slides and sandboxes, installation and repair of summer playgrounds, cleaning and painting of facade cladding, gates, grilles, benches;
directly cleaning up garbage (daily or other frequency, by agreement) from the local area. And in the winter season, additionally clearing snow and sprinkling sand at entrance entrances and pedestrian paths.

This is a basic list of works for landscaping and maintaining the local area, but it is not exhaustive. Also, you should know that local authorities have the right to apply administrative measures (based on local regulations) to violators of the rules for maintaining the local area.

I would like to note that, despite the fact that the local area is the common shared property of an apartment building, in many cities and other localities local administrations carry out actions aimed at helping residents of houses in improving this area. Thus, in particular, various kinds of targeted programs are carried out at the expense of local budgets, according to which, at the appropriate requests of residents, playgrounds, flower and tree seedlings, or funds for repairs and improvement of the local area can be allocated in kind.