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- Set up for the best: developers will be forbidden to keep silent about paid services in contracts
Set up for the best: developers will be forbidden to keep silent about paid services in contracts
Developers will be prohibited from changing the terms of contracts for the sale of apartments in a new building after their conclusion. Companies will not be able, for example, to charge people additional fees for landscaping, maintaining an entrance, building a playground and other basic things for life after renting a house. In the Russian Federation, there will be mandatory standard contracts for developers that will prohibit companies from going to such tricks. The National Union of Consumers has already sent such a proposal to the government. Whether this will help protect home buyers is in the Izvestia article.
What is a standard contract with a developer?
The National Consumer Rights Protection Union has sent a proposal to the government to create a single standard agreement in Russia that developers will use when selling apartments in new buildings. For the first year, it can be used as a recommendation for all companies, and then transferred to the mandatory category, legalized with the help of necessary laws. This is stated in a letter from the organization to the government, which was reviewed by Izvestia. The Cabinet of Ministers told the editorial staff that they had received the document and sent it to the Ministry of Construction, and the department clarified that they were already reviewing it.
The union's appeal notes that development companies are now aggressively advertising, which often omit many significant circumstances that significantly affect the real, that is, the final cost of housing. Builders unilaterally change the initial terms of the equity participation agreement after its conclusion: the base price actually increases after the apartment is ready for transfer.
This is due to the fact that developers offer services that were not previously known about, but the buyer cannot do without them, said Pavel Shapkin, the head of the union. For example, an apartment increases in square footage, and you need to pay for the extra meters at the market price, or it turns out that landscaping the territory, as well as the construction of playgrounds, parking near the house, and the maintenance of the entrance, up to the construction of necessary communications in the apartment, costs some money. That is, we are talking about changing essential conditions, the expert emphasized. Now it is possible: companies draw up filigree documents from a legal point of view that take into account various loopholes for companies, he added.
Therefore, the standard contract should specify the basic things, as well as list all the services that are included and not included in the price of the apartment, so that the buyer clearly understands the list of services he has already paid for. These include, for example, the exact price of real estate, the cost per square meter at a fixed time, a list of what is included in the contract, such as infrastructure, and other conditions.
According to Rosstat data for January – February 2025, the commissioning of apartment buildings by developers in the Russian Federation amounted to 4.6 million square meters, the National Consumer Protection Union points out in its letter. This is 17.6% less than in the same period of 2024. Meanwhile, from March 1, 2025, developers can use their own apartment finishing quality standards. And for buyers, the authorities have imposed restrictions on the amount that can be collected from the developer. In case of non-compliance with the standard, you can receive compensation, which, however, does not exceed 3% of the price of the equity participation agreement. About half prefer housing without decoration, the union indicated.
How can the problems of shareholders be solved?
All the proposals of the public figures are significant and important, especially since the problems of the DDU participants really remain, despite the resolution of the issue with the defrauded shareholders, Svetlana Razvorotneva, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services, told Izvestia.
The main issue that arises in this field is the delay in construction, she noted. But it is not resolved either: until June 30, 2025, a moratorium on the payment of penalties on this item is in effect in the Russian Federation. This is fixed in a government decree, which had previously taken this step for a reason: developers are supported in difficult economic conditions.
— There are objectively many force majeure circumstances now, starting, for example, with a high key rate and ending with a shortage of workers who are involved in construction. In these circumstances, a single standard agreement will not be a decisive document, because it will have a lower legal status from a legal point of view than the current restrictions. Moreover, it is quite difficult to list and cover all possible tricks that can be performed in practice. Although this minimum is really important, such problems must be solved. But it should be done in court, which will be more effective than a fixed contract for everyone," the deputy believes.
The moratorium on penalties for developers for late delivery of a house does not cancel the right of an equity holder to demand a refund, Alexey Koitov, chairman of the Consumer Union of the Russian Federation, reminded Izvestia. According to him, in this situation, any attempts to fix any conditions in the contract look like a half measure.
In general, over the past six months, the legislation on shared-equity construction has changed quite seriously towards developers, the expert noted. In fact, it is developers, not buyers, "who should be recognized as the "weak side," otherwise it is difficult to explain such a bias in preferences."
— For example, court fines for developers were reduced 10 times to 5% of the cost of housing, the amount of penalties, for example, for defects was made 600 times lower than for consumers in any other cases, it was limited to 3% of the cost of housing. As a result, if there are defects of 1 million rubles in an apartment worth 10 million rubles, the consumer can receive a refund of only 300 thousand, and the remaining 700 thousand, it turns out, are his personal problems," said Alexey Koitov.
According to him, construction companies advertise certain conditions, but in practice they turn out to be different, but it is almost impossible to solve such an issue in the current conditions.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the largest developers of the Russian Federation — the companies Aeroplane, PIK, FGC, LSR, etc.
The standard contract is appreciated by sellers, buyers and lawyers, Georgy Ostapovich, director of the HSE Center for Economic Research and Economic Analysis, told Izvestia. It is considered a more predictable, stable document, it is easier to calculate, which means it is easier to set up a transparent and understandable process for all parties, from which it is easier to exclude force majeure, he noted. In any industry, this type of document is perceived as more positive and convenient, the expert added.
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