Communal life: will a family with children be evicted and how to recalculate utility bills

general information

A dormitory is considered a place for temporary residence . Dormitories are student, work and family. It is almost impossible to buy a room in a student dormitory, since the building belongs to the educational institution and is intended for housing students, graduate students and teachers. Recently, rooms in workers' and family dormitories have been allowed to be purchased into ownership . The department usually reserves a few rooms to accommodate traveling specialists, and sells the rest of the housing to employees who have lived there for a long time. This does not contradict the law. The owners of dorm rooms, in turn, want to improve their living conditions and, when buying new housing, put the rooms up for sale.

The difference between workers' and family dormitories lies in their amenities and comfort . A room in a workers' dormitory is a separate living space with a shared kitchen and bathroom on the floor or in the block. In a “small family”, the room usually contains at least a washbasin and a toilet, and at a maximum – a separate kitchen, a combined bathroom and a small hallway. The cost of rooms varies depending on the size and living conditions. When considering offers to sell a room, you should pay attention to these aspects.

Purchasing a dorm room is similar to purchasing any other home . If the sale is carried out by the organization that owns the building, then all the documents necessary for the transaction are prepared by the property department of the enterprise. If the purchase is made from a private person, then it is necessary to clarify his right to this living space, and also ask for an extract from his personal account, a certificate of absence of debts for payment of utility bills. If children under age are registered in the room, permission from the guardianship authorities will be required.

What do you need to know when buying a dorm room?

Answering questions from our readers about what you need to pay attention to when buying housing in privatized hostels, we turned to lawyers specializing in housing legislation, as well as employees of several real estate companies in Almaty, for clarification.

As lawyers explained to us, the privatization of hostels is permitted by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Housing Relations” dated April 16, 1997 No. 94-1, which states that the tenant has the right to privatize housing from the state housing stock, including room-type premises. But this process really began only in 1999, when Government Resolution No. 1560 was adopted.

“On the issues of privatization of room-type residential premises in dormitories of the state housing stock.” Within a month, ministries and departments determined a list of hostels containing room-type residential premises subject to privatization.

Legally, dormitories are divided into beds and rooms. By the way, in Russia the new Housing Code, adopted in 2005, allows you to privatize even a bed in a hostel. We don't allow this. According to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 16, 1997 No. 94-1 “On Housing Relations,” bed-type residential premises are not subject to privatization. The same applies to room-type dormitories provided to persons working under a fixed-term employment agreement (contract), students (cadets, graduate students) and students for the period of study. Also, a number of departmental dormitories cannot be privatized. There were cases when the procedure for denationalization of the enterprise that owned the hostel during the Soviet period took place before the decree on the privatization of hostels was issued. And since today there are no legal grounds for the privatization of departmental housing, residents sign a lease agreement, according to which one party (the owner of the residential premises) undertakes to transfer to the other party (the tenant) this residential premises for a fee for possession and use for temporary residence in it, and privatization cannot be carried out. The administration of the enterprise or institution that provided the dormitory, if necessary, has the right to relocate residents (with family members) to other residential premises of the same or another dormitory. Therefore, when buying a room, it is important to make sure that the sellers of housing in the hostel have resolved all privatization issues and have ownership rights.

When buying an apartment in a privatized hostel, it is also important to pay attention to the fact that there may not be one owner, there may be several of them. Since, according to the Law “On Housing Relations”, a privatized dwelling in which several tenants lived passes into the common shared ownership of the tenant and all family members permanently living with him, all of them are included in the privatization agreement. Therefore, the sale of a dwelling that is in common joint ownership is allowed only with the consent of all owners. In addition, if the transaction affects the interests of minor children who are the owners of the home, the consent of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities will be required. In this case, family members mean permanently living spouses and their children, as well as parents of spouses, children who have their own families and permanently reside with the owner by mutual consent. In exceptional cases, other persons may be recognized as family members of the owner of the home if they permanently reside with the owner and have been living with him in a common household for at least five years. Disabled dependents are members of the owner's family if they permanently reside with the owner.

Rooms in dormitories belong to the premises of a specialized housing stock and differ from apartments in ordinary houses. Since a dorm room is intended for temporary living, such housing has a number of design features. Among the main ones are small utility areas, there is not always a separate bathroom with a bathtub, and very poor sound insulation of the walls. It also often happens that there is one kitchen for several apartments.

Individual energy metering devices were not initially installed in dormitories, and today subscriber service meters for electricity and water are not available everywhere. This requires reconstruction of the intra-house networks of dormitories with the installation of metering devices in each room. When purchasing, you need to make sure that the installed meters are sealed by the energy supply organization, so that you can then pay only for the amount of electricity actually consumed, regardless of the expenses incurred by the hostel. If the meters are installed at the initiative of the hostel, but are not accepted by the energy supply organization, it will be necessary to pay for electricity in accordance with the agreement for the use of housing and payment of utilities concluded between the owner and the hostel.

In general, after the privatization of this type of housing in dormitories, as well as in apartment buildings, a condominium or other form of collective self-government should be created, which will resolve all issues regarding the maintenance and repair of common areas at a general meeting of owners of residential and non-residential premises.
Ivetta SHUTOVA

pros

Buying a dorm room can solve the problem of a person or small family staying for some time. In any case, the living space will have to be expanded. But you can start an independent adult life this way. The positive aspects of buying a dorm room include:

Own housing . You don't have to pay rent for a rented apartment. Therefore, you can start saving money to buy a new home.
A room is more affordable than a full-fledged apartment. You can do without a mortgage loan.
Subsequently, the room can not be sold, but rented out . This will bring additional income to the family budget.
Relatively low utility bills.
The dormitory could be demolished at any time due to its disrepair. In this case, the owners of the rooms are required to pay compensation or provide other housing .
A dorm room is easier to sell than a room in a communal apartment . The consent of the neighbors will not be required here, since the owner is the buyer and his desire to change living space depends only on the relatives living with him.

Set of documents for obtaining a loan

Applying for a mortgage for a room in a communal apartment follows the same procedure as when purchasing a separate ready-made apartment. Therefore, the set of papers provided to the bank will be similar.

The citizen draws up an application, which has the template established by the bank.
An identification card (civil passport) with copies is attached.
To confirm income, a 2-NDFL certificate is required. If a citizen cannot provide it, he has the right to confirm the presence of a permanent income with a certificate in the form of a bank.
Guarantors need to have identification documents, an application, and proof of income.
Military personnel must have a contract with them, which indicates the period of its conclusion.
If a pensioner applies to the bank, a pension certificate is attached.
Title documents are required for the property.
To clarify that there are no third parties as possible owners, you need to take an extract from the house register.
A technical passport may be required for the room. If there is none, you can register it at the BTI.

Please note:
If benefits will be used when applying for a mortgage for a room, documents confirming them will be provided. These include a certificate for maternity capital and a certificate of participation in the program for young families.

Minuses

Unfortunately, there are more negative aspects than positive ones. When moving into a hostel, people have to face the following problems:

Contingent living in the house . The neighbors in such buildings are not the best. These could be people suffering from alcohol addiction, former prisoners, drug addicts. People who rent rooms from owners, as a rule, do not always comply with the rules of living in a hostel. Because of this, conflicts often arise.
Deterioration of the building's engineering systems . Old wiring, rusty pipes, lack of an elevator, problematic sewage system, clogged garbage disposal - these are just a few of the everyday difficulties that hostel residents face. These houses are repaired and reconstructed on a residual basis. Therefore, dirty entrances and areas on floors are a common occurrence and can irritate calm, clean people.
Inflated cost per square meter . It’s a paradox, but one square meter of living space in a dormitory often costs more than the same meter in an apartment.
Difficulty in further selling . Selling a dorm room is always more difficult than purchasing one. People consider buying rooms as one of the latest options. If the hostel is located in the city center, then the sale will happen quickly. But dormitories were usually built on the outskirts, close to departmental enterprises. Therefore, the location of the house can play a decisive role in the sale.
Repair work . To make the room more comfortable, many families do major renovations, turning it into a mini-studio. They install a separate bathroom and separate a section of the room for the kitchen. Such innovations not only make life more comfortable for owners, but also reduce communication with neighbors to a minimum. In the future, it will be easier to sell a well-appointed room.

Requirements for living space

You can take out a mortgage loan from a bank to buy a room if the loan object meets the established requirements. These are the following criteria.

The utility must be located in a house that is not considered unsafe. It should not be included in the list of objects for demolition, major repairs or reconstruction with eviction of residents.
The hostel must be located in a region where there is a bank branch.
The area that has been chosen for the purchase of real estate must have developed infrastructure.
The room must have all the conditions for a comfortable stay. This rule also applies to public places.
The property must have a separate kitchen and a bathroom.
Utility debts should be excluded.
There should be no third parties who can express their right to receive the room.