New instruments of housing construction financing in the Russian Federation: first results and prospects

Abstract

The article addresses the defining role of multi-apartment housing construction in improving the living conditions of the population of the Russian Federation. This role requires solving the problems of choosing rational construction, architectural and economic solutions. The article analyzes problems of transition from shared equity construction, associated with high risks accompanying this mechanism of organization of housing construction financing, to project financing. The author demonstrates objective transition difficulties for the population, banks and deve­lopers. At the first stage, these fundamental transformations led to a significant reduction in construction, a slowdown in housing construction, and a decrease in the number of construction permits issued. The ope­rational statistical information presented in the article indicates that in the second half of 2021, that is, two years after the entry into force of the legal documents on transition to project financing, the situation began to change. The number of project financing applications received by banks has increased markedly compared to the same period of the last year. A number of indisputable advantages of project financing over shared equity construction, formulated in the article, allow assuming a significant increase in the amount of construction of apartment buil­dings and housing construction in general. It is noted that transition to project financing has ensured the stability of the housing market during the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. Largely thanks to credit lines, develo­pers managed to meet the challenges of the spring of 2020, when demand dropped sharply due to the pandemic.