Housing smaller than 28 square meters is now illegal
A ban on the design and construction of apartments smaller than 28 square meters came into force in Moscow on August 1, 2024. The corresponding resolution was signed by Sergei Sobyanin.
As stated in the document, the area of a one-room apartment cannot be less than 28 square meters, and a two-room apartment cannot be less than 44 square meters. This restriction does not take into account loggias, balconies, terraces, vestibules and cold storage rooms, no matter how huge they are. Simply put, if the size of a living space is not 28, but 25 square meters, and even if it has a 15-meter terrace, a 5-meter loggia and a 10-meter storage room, it still does not comply with the law. And it is prohibited to design it after the adoption of the resolution: it will be necessary to add three square meters in a room, kitchen or hallway to reach the coveted 28 square meters.
Information about a possible ban on small apartments first appeared in the spring of this year.
— In essence, the Moscow mayor's decree is a verification of the May decision of the city authorities, — says Olga Guseva, CEO of KEY CAPITAL. — In fact, the ban on the design of small apartments has been in effect since the end of spring. Many developers have a certain audience interested in small studios, primarily for economic reasons. In particular, these are university students, young professionals, spouses without children, and pensioners. Developers targeting such buyers will incur losses not due to the costs of forced redesign of houses, but due to the likely outflow of consumers with low incomes.
This blow looks quite sensitive, considering that in residential complexes of comfort and business class, small studios are often the most profitable options, where the relatively low final cost is compensated by expensive square meters, Olga Guseva continues.
— The ban on the design of small apartments in new buildings in the capital seems like an ambiguous decision. Of course, there has been too much of such housing on the Moscow market recently. Many transactions with such apartments are of an investment nature. Nevertheless, there are categories of clients who certainly need micro-housing. Therefore, I believe that apartments of this format should be kept in the exposition of new buildings, but their share in the total supply should be limited, — says the expert.
The founder of BEST-Novostroy Irina Dobrokhotova says that over five years the average area of studios has decreased by 9.8%, to 25 square meters. But this is a general trend for all types of apartments.
— For most buyers, a studio is an opportunity to purchase real estate in a new building with a minimum check. Despite the fact that the price per square meter in studios is higher, this format is in demand. Studios are purchased as starting real estate, which can then be sold and a larger apartment can be purchased for growing children, as well as for the purpose of renting out, — Irina Dobrokhotova gives examples.
However, the entry into force of the law does not mean that from now on there will be no studios with an area of less than 28 square meters for sale. Everything that is already under construction will be sold: the construction cycle lasts two to three years, which means that sales will go on. And later, a mini-studio can be purchased on the secondary market. In the future, we can expect an increase in the share of one-room apartments with a minimum area of 28-30 «squares».
— In recent years, the new building market has been developing a trend towards reducing the area of apartments, — comments Pavel Lutsenko, CEO of the portal «World of Apartments». — In Moscow, the average apartment has «lost weight» by 2 «squares» in five years, to 56.4 meters. Such housing is less and less suitable for the concept of comfortable. Small «cuts» worsen the social environment of the residential complex, and if there are many such new buildings in the area, then the entire area. In an effort to stop this trend, the authorities announced the ban.
Now a “square” of housing up to 28 meters in size in Moscow costs from 360 thousand to half a million rubles, and the average apartment for sale is 8.4 million rubles. These are the cheapest apartments in Moscow, and there is enormous interest in them, because not only can a single person live in them, but they can also be rented out at a price comparable to an ordinary one-room apartment. So those apartments that are still on sale (there are about eight thousand of them on the new buildings market) will be in high demand.
It is worth noting that this decision does not apply to apartments. In accordance with the law, they do not belong to residential real estate, therefore, in apartment projects, premises with an area of less than 28 square meters will be able to be designed in the future. “It is likely that demand, depending on the purpose of the purchase, will shift to small one-room apartments for personal use and to apartments for those who buy for the purpose of renting,” the expert believes.
It is possible that the construction of small apartments will be banned at least in Sochi, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. The authorities of these regions are already preparing documents. But when or whether they might come into force is still unclear. This measure is too unpopular.
In the regions there is a different situation with small-sized housing. This format began appearing in large markets about three years ago and does not yet make up the same significant share of supply as in Moscow. In medium-sized cities (from 300 thousand to one million people) studios are rare — a square meter is not as expensive as in million-plus cities and capitals, so there was little point in the mass construction of small studios.
— It is quite possible that in some regions of Russia, the authorities will demonstratively refuse small studios if the market conditions themselves do not favor their construction. In large cities with expensive real estate, in my opinion, they will not follow Moscow’s example, the expert believes.