Apartments: differences from apartments, advantages and disadvantages

Concepts and definitions

The word “apartment” comes from the French appartement, which literally means room. In Europe, this is the name for several rooms intended for rent.

So what does an apartment mean, legally and legally? According to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, this format of real estate refers to non-residential, that is, commercial properties. At the same time, the premises have the necessary conditions for permanent residence.

Thus, an apartment is a cross between a hotel room, an office and an apartment.

Externally, they are no different from an apartment. The premises have everything necessary for people to live - water, electricity, a bathroom, a place for a kitchen.

Main differences

Let's summarize the main differences between apartments and apartments:

• legal status;
• price;
• possibility of registration;
• availability of infrastructure;
• quality of construction;
• the possibility of redevelopment of the premises (in apartments this can only be done with special permission);
• infrastructure development;
• Payment of utility services;
• tax payments (less taxes on apartments);
• subsidies (applies only to apartments);
• joint ownership of property with the developer (ownership of the apartments extends directly to the rooms, the developer owns all auxiliary premises);
• availability of hotel services;
• room registration procedure;
• living conditions (meaning comfort);
• availability of social infrastructure;
• cost per square meter;
• intended use (temporary permanent housing);
• belonging to the housing stock;
• purpose and performance.

Any of the listed differences can be both a plus and a minus in the dispute between apartments and apartments. Each person has different needs and desires, which means their housing requirements will vary. If you are interested in additional information on the issue under discussion, you can contact specialists through the feedback form completely free of charge.

Next ApartmentWhat documents are needed to privatize an apartment

Advantages of the apartments

In the real estate market, apartment-format housing is in great demand for a number of reasons:

• cost - housing of a similar format is sold 20-25% cheaper than a similar apartment;
• freedom of redevelopment - in order to change the footage or number of rooms in a residential building, it is necessary to obtain approval from the BTI and other authorities; to redesign a commercial property, no permits are required;
• district – apartment complexes are built in well-maintained areas with developed infrastructure;
• service – if the premises are located in apart-hotels, then residents are provided with full hotel service.

Since the apartments are classified as commercial real estate, you can register a legal entity or open an office in them.

Important to know: Due to the special status of the premises, it is not possible to obtain permanent registration there. In this case, the owner has the right to register temporarily for five years.

Temporary registration allows a citizen to use all social services - preschool education, medical and other services.

Possibility to use a mortgage or maternity capital when purchasing

Maternity capital funds can be used to improve housing conditions: purchasing residential premises, paying off a mortgage, or making a down payment when obtaining a loan to purchase a home.

If the apartments have the status of commercial real estate, then the Pension Fund will not provide a certificate for family capital for their purchase. If the property has residential status, then it is possible to use maternity capital to purchase it.

When buying an apartment, it is much more difficult to get a mortgage loan. The interest rate on such a loan will be an order of magnitude higher than the interest rate on a loan for the purchase of a regular apartment.

It will be impossible to take advantage of various government programs (reduced mortgage rates when purchasing housing under social programs).

Disadvantages of the apartments

The conclusion of a contract for the purchase and sale of commercial real estate is regulated by the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Due to the special legal status, a number of disadvantages arise:

• When purchasing office space, you cannot use mat. capital or other government subsidies;
• the developer has the right not to comply with the standards established for housing construction;
• the buyer will not be able to receive a property tax deduction;
• the cost of utility bills is 15-20% more than for a similar apartment;
• owners of premises do not have the right to create a HOA;
• real estate is subject to seizure for debts in court;
• Commercial property tax rates are higher than residential ones.

What’s even worse about apartments is that when purchasing an object in a new building under a share participation agreement in construction, buyers become not shareholders, as is the case with apartments, but co-investors. This means that if the developer goes bankrupt, they will be third rather than first priority creditors.

Useful: Residents of apartment complexes are not subject to the law on silence. That is, if the neighbors make noise after 11 pm, then you cannot call the police and bring them to justice.

Live or save

Depending on their purpose, apartments are classified into several groups: for living, service and investment.

Apartments in which you can live are usually built on a plot of land intended for use as a hotel. Such properties are often cheaper than regular housing. Often parents buy it for their older children. This type also includes the so-called pseudo-housing. Unlike most apartments, such premises are sold unfinished and unfurnished. An example is the Neopark complex near Pulkovo Park.

“In service apart-hotels (like the mentioned Ye's), some of the owners live themselves, some rent out their units on their own, and some hand them over to a management company and receive income,” commented Yana Vasilyeva. – The investment type is a condo hotel, a special format that combines the characteristics of a hotel and a condominium. It is distinguished by many owners - hundreds, or even thousands. People don’t live in such hotels: they bought a ready-made business and receive income with the help of management companies.”

Ekaterina Arshinova added recreational apart-hotels to this list. These are premium properties in resort locations. For example, “Russian Seasons” from the developer RBI (Sestroretsk).

Mortgage

When purchasing real estate using borrowed funds from a bank, the lending conditions for apartments and apartments will be different. Getting a mortgage for a commercial property is much more difficult for a number of reasons:

• not all banks issue loans for the purchase of non-residential real estate;
• complexity of object assessment;
• large down payment;
• increased interest rates.

When applying for a loan, financial institutions put forward the following requirements:

• availability of permits from the developer;
• confirmation of the borrower's income;
• own funds of at least 15% of the cost;
• premises insurance.

The property itself will be encumbered by the bank until the mortgage is paid in full. Financial institutions set restrictions on the maximum loan amount and loan term.

Apartments vs apartment

Many visitors to the consultation center were interested in what would be preferable to buy: an apartment or an apartment. This question is multifaceted. To answer this, experts had to compare a number of parameters: cost, possibility of registration, potential profitability, maintenance costs.

According to Svetlana Kuzmenko, until recently, apartments were 20 percent cheaper than regular housing. This is explained primarily by the fact that when constructing commercial facilities, developers are not required to build infrastructure. Now the price dynamics are changing: the cost of apartments is equal to the price of regular housing, and sometimes even exceeds it. Perhaps this is due to a large-scale advertising campaign for the apartments.

And yet, this process has not affected all properties, so many apartments are still cheaper than apartments. Therefore, if we are talking about buying housing for a student, then buying a unit in an apart-hotel is preferable, says Ekaterina Arshinova. If we are talking about a family, then it is better to buy an apartment. The price may be higher, but the difference will be paid off due to the amenities that the owners will receive. These include infrastructure, the possibility of registration, and a clearer legal status of real estate.

A selection of one-room apartments in the Moskovsky district of St. Petersburg

Comparison with an apartment

To understand the difference between apartments and apartments when buying and living, you need to compare both objects according to the criteria.

The cost of the object is important for the buyer. And here apartments are undoubtedly the leaders. For example, in the Central Administrative District of Moscow you can buy a one-room apartment from a developer with an area of ​​45 square meters for 12.96 million rubles.

Apartments of similar size in the same area of ​​the capital can be purchased for 11.3 million rubles. Savings on original cost are 14.6%.

Definition

What are apartments? This is the name of the class of housing, the objects of which are part of the non-residential stock. According to the law, the peculiarity of apartments is that they are commercial real estate intended for residence for a limited period of time. It is with this moment that all the pros and cons of the apartments are associated. Let's talk about them in more detail.

Common property

Owners of apartments in an apartment building own common property on the right of shared ownership. That is, common areas - basement, attic, local area and others - are the property of the residents.

Reference: The procedure for the use and disposal of common property is prescribed in Chapter 6 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

Apartment owners do not have ownership rights to common property. That is, if the owners want to make a joint vestibule for several rooms on the staircase, they will have to buy or rent this territory from the owner of the complex.

What is the property tax on apartments?

Much depends on what is written in the title documents, what information is contained in the cadastral passport and the unified Rosreestr database.

The difference is colossal, but what does it depend on?

In order to pay a tax rate of 0.5%, property in the form of apartments must simultaneously meet three requirements:

1. Be located in a building designated as a hotel.
2. Do not have in the documentation a direct indication that the purpose of the apartments is intended for offices, shops, catering, etc.
3. Do not have a cadastral value of more than 300,000 rubles.

If at least one condition is not met, the tax increases to 2%.

When purchasing an apartment, it is important to pay attention to the area of ​​the room. If the property includes a local area and common areas, then the owner must know that the tax will be calculated on the entire specified area

By the way, tax deductions are not provided for apartments, as for apartments, rooms and houses.

Third level of difficulty - pitfalls of apartments

There is a possibility that inspectors will start coming to you who will look at the property as a commercial one, making special demands on it, for example, for installing doors, and you will be obliged to fulfill them as the owner of the office. You may be charged commercial rates for everything from water to site cleaning and elevator use. You will not be able to demand silence from rowdy neighbors, since you actually occupy office space. Your heating may be turned off without following the schedule for residential buildings. A management company can place a noisy bar or club next to or below you without asking permission. By the way, the classification of new buildings by category applies only to residential properties. Therefore, “business class apartments” is a rather controversial advertising statement.

And the most interesting thing is that the court has the right to seize the apartment from the owner, even if this is his only place of residence. Because according to the law, this is not a place of residence, but a place of temporary accommodation, like a hotel room.

Pros and cons of today’s fashionable “hotel” apartments

The main paradox of the situation is that apartments in Moscow, despite everything, are now in great demand among potential buyers due to their lower cost than apartments. People are not bothered by the fact that in hotel-type apartments registration can only be obtained temporarily, for a period of 5 years, and they will have to pay for housing and communal services at inflated rates. Many are even willing to wait to enroll their children in kindergarten or school, since according to the law, priority is given to citizens with permanent registration.

According to the head of one of the analytical and consulting centers, Vladimir Bogdanyuk, the demand for apartments today, of course, is somewhat lower than for apartments, however, fewer projects with apartments are being implemented in Moscow

“The good demand for apartments is due to the fact that this is the most affordable format of real estate for living within the old borders of Moscow,” he says. — At the same time, about 70–80% of the demand for apartments comes from buyers who live in the areas where these same apartments are located, or in adjacent areas.

Meanwhile, in pursuit of quick money, developers often build apartments anyhow. For example, the design documentation for one of the apartment complexes under construction in the Obruchevsky district was made with violations. In particular, according to the Moscow State Expertise, outside the boundaries of the designated area in the red lines of the road network, the project provides for the construction of sidewalks, lawns and stair slopes. The distances from the designed and existing buildings to open parking lots are not maintained. The future vertical parking does not take into account underground communications, and drainage from the building is not provided. In addition, according to the document, fire safety requirements were also violated. Despite these violations, construction continues and the necessary approvals have been obtained.

“Soon apartments will be legally burdened with the need to invest in infrastructure, but those who managed to draw up the documents in advance will build with minimal investments,” says activist and community member of the district Vladimir Ivanov.

According to Vladimir Bogdanyuk, by and large, the construction of those apartment projects for which permitting documents have already been received cannot be suspended. The law does not have retroactive effect. However, the risks of unfinished construction and delays in construction when purchasing primary market properties can and should be minimized if you carefully study all the documentation for the project, as well as the developer’s project portfolio and its financial situation.

At the same time, experts note that today the market trend is such that more and more apartment complexes are being built with maximum compliance with housing requirements. The main reason for this is competition with residential projects.

Advantages of apartments compared to apartments

— Apartments are 10–15% cheaper than standard apartments — the average supply price in the segment of new comfort-class apartment buildings in Moscow is 133,400 rubles/sq.m. Housing is more expensive - on average 146,360 rubles/sq.m.

— Often a better location is within old Moscow. According to the head of the new buildings department of the MIC, Alexander Engel, today apartments are sold in almost all districts of Moscow. The leaders are the Northern Administrative District (about 40% of supply) and the Central Administrative District (about 30% of supply).

— In the near future, projects of this kind will necessarily include the necessary social infrastructure facilities.

— Obtaining a compulsory medical insurance policy and registering at a clinic if you have temporary registration occurs without problems.

— Depending on the class of housing, the project may provide its own package of services from the management company, while almost all projects offer cleaning, security, garbage removal, and telephony.

Disadvantages of apartments compared to apartments

- Registration. Permanent registration is not possible in the apartments, but temporary registration is possible for 5 years. True, not in all, but only in those that have hotel status.

To enroll a child in a school or kindergarten not attached to their place of residence, their applications are considered after applications from residents of houses attached to the school or kindergarten and having permanent registration.

At the moment, the apartments do not take into account the load on the existing infrastructure and there may simply not be space in nearby kindergartens, schools and clinics, as well as parking spaces for cars.

— Utility payments for apartments have an increasing coefficient compared to apartment rates and, as a rule, differ by the VAT rate. In numbers, the arithmetic is as follows: for water +10%, for heat +25%, for electricity +27% (based on the average tariff of 2.5 rubles/kWh). As a result, the monthly rent of a 100-square-meter apartment will be 2–2.5 thousand higher than that of an apartment of similar size.

— The tax on an apartment is higher than the tax on an apartment and is 0.5% of the estimated cost of the apartment, versus 0.1% for an apartment. From January 1, 2015, it will be calculated based on the cadastral value of the property.

What to look for when buying an apartment?

According to the head of the new buildings department at MIC, Alexander Engel, when choosing a property in the apartment segment, the same rules apply as when choosing an apartment. You should pay attention to the location of the facility, the quality and speed of construction. It is desirable that the apartments be located in areas of Moscow that are in demand among buyers. The development area should have good transport accessibility (proximity to the metro, major highways, etc.). It is worth approaching the choice of the developer itself no less responsibly - you need to study the history of the company, previously implemented projects, as well as documentation for the construction project. It is highly desirable that sales of apartments be conducted in accordance with Federal Law 214, which today maximally protects the rights of shareholders.

HELP "MK"

Apartments (in Russia) are premises that are not part of the housing stock, but have the necessary conditions for living. Apartments are sold in administrative buildings, as well as in buildings with hotel status.

There are several types of apartments in the global real estate market:

- rooms in apart-hotels - rooms with a kitchen and kitchen equipment, which are rented out for short-term rent and require the availability of hotel services;

- apartments in tenement buildings - apartments that are rented out for long-term rent and require service (food, cleaning, security, etc.);

- apartments in condominium hotels - apartments that can be used either for the owner’s own residence or transferred under the management of a hotel operator;

- apartments in multifunctional and apartment complexes that are used as apartments for permanent residence (the overwhelming number of apartments in Russia).

Income with and without guarantee

The amount of income is, perhaps, the main question that interests potential buyers of apartments. Each aparthotel offers a certain profitability package. The minimum is about 8%, the maximum is 20% (sometimes you can find higher numbers, but these proposals need to be studied especially carefully).

Is it a lot or a little? According to experts, bank deposits now provide a yield of 6.0-6.5%, apartments - 7.0-8.0%, commercial premises - about 12.0% (but the entry threshold in the latter case is quite high). The apartments look advantageous against this background. However, the data on them can still be considered conditional - due to the fact that the segment is still too young. More reliable statistics will appear in five to ten years.

And yet, how much money can an apartment bring in per month? This figure depends on many factors. In particular, on the amount of investment.

“Suppose you invested two million in the purchase. With this money in the early stages you can purchase a small room with decoration and furniture, a fully equipped room. You can choose either a guaranteed return program - it is tied to the cost of the investment (8.8% per annum), or a maximum return, which depends on the amount received for rent and is up to 20%. In the second case, in the first year or two you will receive about 10%, then the percentage will grow and reach its maximum in the fifth year. This is approximately 40 thousand rubles. per month,” explained Yana Vasilyeva.

According to Svetlana Kuzmenko, the most profitable and reliable for an investor is a guaranteed income. If there is no such program, then you should think about whether you need to invest money here. Another criterion that is worth paying attention to is the average occupancy rate of the apart-hotel. If well managed, the room should be occupied at least 20 days a month. If not, then there is a defect in the location or control.

You can calculate your future income yourself. You calculate the average rental cost in a location per day (data on the monthly cost is available in open sources), multiply by the number of “filled” days and from this amount subtract overhead costs (if this is a full-fledged hotel - about 40%). If the figure you receive differs significantly from what the developer said, look for another option.

Real problems and legislative initiatives

The original purpose of the apartments is temporary residence for people who have their main living space and are registered elsewhere. However, as practice has shown, such real estate is actively purchased for the permanent residence of entire families or for long-term rental to people for whom “registration” is not a fundamental issue.

As a result, where apartments are offered, the load on the district infrastructure has increased, problems have arisen with landscaping, debts have arisen on taxes and utility bills, and there has also been an increase in the number of unregistered residents from other cities.

Taking into account the listed problems, representatives of different levels of government have repeatedly considered the need to clearly define the legal status of apartments, the possibility of transferring these premises into housing stock, and, ultimately, equating apartments to apartments. The corresponding statements were made for several years, but until a certain time, the matter did not end with anything other than conversations.

The result of long-term discussions was the introduction of a corresponding bill to the State Duma, one of the objectives of which is to create legal conditions in order to restore the housing rights of those who, in fact, permanently reside in the apartments. In addition, if the law is adopted, the issue of the legal status and regulation of apartments that will only be built will be resolved.

The bill also assumes the need to delineate in populated areas zones with residential facilities and public and business zones where mixed use of territories is allowed.