The state has tightened the requirements for housing purchase programs with state support
Apartments in good new buildings are usually sold out at the foundation pit stage. But this does not mean that no one else will be able to purchase them. Part of the purchased volume is then sold by assignment: some owners changed their minds about living here, others could not afford the apartment financially, and there are those who specifically purchased real estate for subsequent resale. Previously, with a family and IT mortgage, it was possible to buy housing under an assignment agreement, but the winding down of preferential programs had a negative impact on this market. MK found out from experts what to remember when making such transactions today.
Assignment in the real estate market is the assignment of claims under an equity participation agreement (EPA). According to the law, it is allowed from the moment of state registration of the agreement until the parties sign the act of transfer of real estate (214-FZ, Article 11). Simply put, as a result of the transaction, the validity of the first equity participation agreement does not terminate, only the buyer in it changes.
The assignment of rights, like the DDU, must be carried out through the state registration procedure. However, if the apartment has already been rented out by the developer, and the first buyer has ownership rights, this will already be a classic sale and purchase transaction.
“An assignment, or, more correctly, an agreement on the assignment of the right of claim (DUPT) is a 100% legal way to sell or buy an apartment in a building under construction, since the agreement data is registered by Rosreestr, and the bank will be able to issue you a mortgage, even a preferential one, without any problems,” explains the founder Smarent management company Viktor Zubik. — We are talking about the transfer of rights and obligations under the apartment agreement from one shareholder to another. Those who are selling can do this before signing the acceptance certificate and receiving the keys, since once you have signed the transfer and acceptance certificate, you can only sell through a purchase and sale agreement. And for those who buy, the choice becomes greater: apartments that are no longer on open display with the developer are often sold by assignment, and their price is often 10-15% lower than the market price.”
The assignment market is often used for investment purposes. “Some legal entities are engaged in the resale of a large amount of real estate in order to generate income,” notes Alexey Novikov, director of the mortgage lending department at Est-a-Tet. Often the developers themselves sell apartments at the sales office by assignment, since they could pay the owner of the land for the construction site not with money, but with future apartments in the building under construction. And then the developer himself helps sell such real estate for a commission.
“There are a lot of transfer transactions: monthly their share varies from 5% to 60% of the total number of transactions with the developer, if you look individually at the sales of each residential complex,” explains Zubik. For example, in February 2024, a total of 251 assignments (DUPT) from one individual to another were registered, and this is 6.2% of all transactions with new buildings in old Moscow. A month earlier, in January, 291 concessions (DUPT) between individuals were registered, which amounted to 7.5% of all transactions with new buildings (DDU) in the same region, the expert said.
The reassignment market gained its greatest popularity after the introduction of preferential mortgage programs. Previously, with a family and IT mortgage, it was possible to buy an apartment under an assignment agreement from a private investor. However, last year the requirements for home purchase programs with state support began to become stricter. For preferential mortgages issued at 8% per annum, the down payment increased to 30%, and the maximum loan amount was halved for the capital regions. In January 2024, the situation was further complicated by banks, which introduced commissions for developers when issuing mortgages under all preferential programs. According to the new rules, the developer must now additionally subsidize the preferential loan. In addition, the borrower can now apply for the preferential mortgage only once.
To better understand how this affected the reassignment market, let's look at an example. Let’s assume that a private investor bought five apartments from developers with a family mortgage in 2022 and planned to sell them with assignment in 2024. Is it possible to sell this property on a preferential mortgage today?
Experts have differing opinions on this matter. According to Olga Matveeva, head of mortgage lending at Asterus, large banks are now deprived of this opportunity: they have a ban on concessions under preferential mortgage programs. “Perhaps some third-tier banks agree to such deals because they do not particularly choose the limits for preferential programs,” the expert argues. “However, this scheme does not work for an IT mortgage: it can only be used once. An IT company employee is unlikely to use his right to a preferential mortgage only to then assign the purchased apartment.”
And according to Pavel Petrov, director of the commercial department of the Dogma construction company, it is quite possible to sell such housing — the main thing is that the buyer meets the conditions of the preferential program. If an apartment purchased under a family mortgage is transferred, the buyer must also have the right to obtain a family mortgage. For example, a citizen who does not have children does not meet these criteria and, therefore, will not be able to purchase real estate under the preferential program.
When registering an apartment by transfer, increased attention should be paid to the registration rules. The expert advises taking the following actions:
— It is imperative to check the seller to ensure that he is not a member of the EFRS (Unified Federal Register of Bankruptcy Information), otherwise the transaction may be declared invalid.
— It is imperative to check that the seller’s settlements with the developer have been carried out in full.
— It is imperative to check that the seller’s settlements with the developer have been carried out in full.
— It is imperative to check that the seller’s settlements with the developer have been carried out in full.
— Check for the presence of minor owners in the transaction. If a participant in a shared construction project is a person under 18 years of age, or a person declared incompetent by a court, the consent of the guardianship and trusteeship authority is required to assign the right of claim under the agreement.
— Check whether maternity capital was used in the transaction .
— Request from the seller a registered DDU and a recent USRN extract for the property to find out whether this property has been assigned to another person.
— Request a certificate of the mortgage balance and bank permission for assignment, if an object is purchased that is pledged by the bank.
— Request a notarized consent of the spouse to conclude an assignment agreement or a marriage contract (if the object was acquired during marriage).