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- Expert doubt: The Ministry of Construction intends to tighten the acceptance of new apartments
Expert doubt: The Ministry of Construction intends to tighten the acceptance of new apartments
The Ministry of Construction plans to tighten the procedure for accepting a new apartment. Specialists who identify defects in the decoration of built housing will be required to receive specialized education. In 2024, developers paid 100 billion rubles to dissatisfied consumers, the Lawyers' Association estimated. Rospotrebnadzor believes that the issue of housing quality must be resolved first, and only then "consumer extremism" must be dealt with.
How the Ministry of Construction proposes to combat "consumer extremism"
Specialists who carry out construction and technical expertise during the acceptance of apartments in new buildings should have specialized education, the Ministry of Construction is confident. This was stated by Oleg Speransky, Director of the department's legal department, at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, which was held from May 19 to 21. He did not specify the requirements for such specialists, at what stage this idea is being worked out, as well as what amendments and what law are being discussed. The ministry did not provide Izvestia with additional comments.
The purpose of such a transformation is to protect businesses from so—called consumer extremism, when organized groups of lawyers sue companies in order to make a profit, rather than protect violated consumer rights, Oleg Speransky noted. Such specialists receive power of attorney from homeowners to represent their interests.
According to him, in practice, such pseudo-unionists file lawsuits, manipulating the conclusions of reception specialists. How it works: the receptionists evaluate the new apartment, record comments on it, then they are transferred to the developer, who eliminates the expressed shortcomings. After that, people sign the final act for the apartment, in which the parties agree that there are no more claims to housing.
Next, the buyers move into the apartment, live in it, and simultaneously file a lawsuit for poorly rendered services and corrections, challenging the apartment's acceptance certificate, which they signed. People refer to the fact that they could not professionally assess exactly how the developer corrected the comments after they were eliminated. The courts side with the weaker side, that is, the consumer, and appoint an expert examination, during which experts can identify minor flaws on the part of the developer.
In the end, this becomes the basis for the developer to pay financial compensation to the consumer. The scale of the disaster for developers in this case is really serious, Oleg Speransky noted.
— According to expert estimates, 60% of equity participation agreements in the capital region file lawsuits in the courts, and in the regions this share is less and does not exceed 10%, because the money is not the same, — said the official, referring to the cost of the apartment and the potential compensation amounts from the developer, which are linked to the price of real estate.
He stressed that the main problem in this situation is that there are few legal mechanisms in the Russian Federation that allow the parties to reach an agreement in a way that will allow them to defend this fact of the agreement in the future rather than challenge it.
Currently, apartment receivers do not have to have any documents that should be submitted to developers before evaluating an apartment. Such a specialist does not pass exams that allow him to confirm his primary skills for evaluating apartments.
— Today, anyone can become a receptionist, even without higher education, after completing a refresher course. Usually, lawyers are involved in this side job, not people with a construction education," Pavel Sklyanchuk, an independent expert in the housing and communal services sector, told Izvestia.
In the future, developers may include the costs of "consumer extremism" in the price of apartments under construction, says Vladimir Gruzdev, head of the Russian Bar Association. According to the organization's estimates, in 2024, developers spent 100 billion rubles on fines, penalties, penalties and other types of compensation to pseudo-consumers.
He stressed that it is necessary to begin an active fight against "consumer extremism," for example, it is necessary to create a blacklist of lawyers who help organized groups of citizens (as a rule, they unite) to earn money on their violated rights. They are usually accompanied in court by the same legal companies.
Two types of finishes for apartments
According to Ilya Gavrilov, CEO of the developer Rost, the current situation has already led to the fact that metropolitan developers have reduced the share of apartments with finishing, such facilities are becoming unprofitable for them. This is also due to "consumer extremism," the expert said. If in 2021 developers introduced 80% of apartments with finishing to the market, then in 2024 - already 37%, in 2025 this share will continue to decrease and, according to the company's forecasts, will amount to 27%.
According to him, the problem can be solved in this way: to make several types of apartment finishes for consumers, which will differ in materials, scope of work and permissible deviations, and, of course, in price. So, for example, you can distinguish between a basic finish and a high-quality one. The first type will be aimed at those people who are looking for affordable housing, the expert explained.
— In this format, developers will use economy class materials, and minor defects will also be allowed here, for example, small scratches on surfaces or minimal deviations in the geometry of elements, which at the same time do not affect the safety and functionality of objects. If a person agrees to this approach, it will mean that a small chip on the door will not be the basis for further claims," he said.
The second type is a high—quality finish for those who are willing to pay for perfection, the expert added. The main idea of this approach is to create a legal framework where a balance of interests can be achieved not through litigation, but at the stage of concluding a contract.
Experienced professionals who objectively evaluate the completed construction work should work in the field of assistance in the acceptance of an apartment in a new building, the Citiprof company, which specializes in the acceptance and analysis of new facilities, told Izvestia.
"Although a specialized education is not always the key to a highly qualified specialist, for example, if a person initially has a humanitarian background, but a technical and analytical mindset, nothing will prevent him from gaining work experience in the construction sector and doing his job as an engineer by taking advanced training courses or receiving additional education," they noted.
At the same time, the company stressed that it is certainly necessary and important to combat "consumer extremism." But it is worth doing this, for example, by improving the quality of construction.
If we conduct an analysis, then the bulk of penalties from developers go to specific developers who ignore quality standards and the need to eliminate deficiencies, do not conduct a dialogue with the shareholder, explained in Cityprof. They noted that, in general, all companies do not have such a systemic problem.
Why is Rospotrebnadzor and social activists against the term "consumer extremism"
Rospotrebnadzor defends the interests of the consumer and considers it unacceptable to use the term "extremist" in relation to him, the service told Izvestia.
"If a person restores their violated rights within the framework of regulation on consumer protection, then this cannot be regarded as abuse, given, among other things, the high proportion of claims satisfied by the court in favor of consumers," the agency is confident. — As for the procedure for accepting an apartment, it is necessary first of all to resolve the issue of transferring a high-quality apartment that meets the established mandatory requirements and the contract signed with the consumer.
The Consumer Union of the Russian Federation also opposes the use of the phrase "consumer extremism," its chairman Alexei Koitov told Izvestia. Such a sharply negative emotional coloring creates the feeling that this phenomenon exists and almost all consumers who have stated their legitimate demands are involved in it.
— Business wants to form (and it succeeds in doing so) public opinion that cases of abuse and unfair consumer behavior are now widespread. And then use this as a justification for changing legislation in favor of companies. But public figures and relevant government agencies insist that it is unacceptable to reduce the legal protection of buyers," he said.
The initiative of the Ministry of Construction on criteria in the competence of construction experts was supported in the union, "since the market for such services has a big flaw in this part." It is doubtful that a construction and technical expertise can be carried out by a person without specialized education or advanced training courses, Alexey Koitov added. In case of violation, a person should be removed from their position, which will encourage specialists to undergo the necessary training.
The expert also recalled that in 2024-2025, the authorities had already introduced a number of incentives for developers, which were supposed to significantly support them. We are talking about amendments to the law "On participation in the shared construction of apartment buildings ..." (214-FZ). As a result, for example, fines for violations for them were reduced by 10 times, plus the warranty period for an apartment was reduced from five years to three, and for finishing — up to a year. All refunds for defects in finishes, windows, doors, plumbing and other equipment are limited to 3% of the cost of the equity agreement, although previously there was no framework.
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