Cottage community Mechta

The concepts of “cottage” and “cottage community” are not legally defined in Russia. Therefore, we can talk about a kind of legislative vacuum around the development suburban construction. What standards should be followed when managing a cottage community?

Clarification of concepts

A cottage can be defined as a small comfortable residential building located in the suburbs. Another criterion can be considered the possibility year-round residence. In addition, the cottage must have a full range of communications typical for a city apartment, and in some ways even exceed it.

Clarifying the concept of “cottage community”, first of all it should be noted that 10, 20 or more nearby cottages cannot be called such. Typically, a cottage community is initially conceived as a single whole and is built according to a specific plan. It has a common area on which, for example, the board of a homeowners association (HOA), common guest parking, a playground, an electrical substation, etc. are located. Retail outlets - small pavilions, shops, cafes - are also not uncommon here, but only if they economic feasibility. Present cottage village communications are most often common: electricity, water supply, sewerage are more profitable to install and maintain in the future by cooperating. Well, of course, it is necessary to have security that will protect the territory of the village as a whole.

Consequently, a cottage village can be considered a cluster of individual residential buildings located on a separate plot of land, connected by common communications and having their own infrastructure.

By analogy with the law...

Due to the absence in the legislation of the Russian Federation of norms devoted to the procedure for creating, organizing and managing cottage villages, the relationship between governing bodies and owners of cottages, the practice of extending housing legislation to relations related to the management of cottage villages, maintenance common property village, ensuring utility payments.

According to Art. 7 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation in case housing relations are not regulated by housing legislation or an agreement between the participants in such relations, and in the absence of civil or other legislation directly regulating such relations, housing legislation regulating similar relations (analogy of law) is applied to them, unless this contradicts their essence. Therefore, when the question arises of creating a homeowners association or housing cooperative (HC), about their management, about the maintenance of common property in a cottage community and about paying utility bills, many courts, by analogy, apply the rules relating to premises in an apartment building.

The housing legislation deals in detail with the issue of managing an apartment building. The courts extend this design to the model of a cottage community as a kind of house in which the apartments are cottages. Therefore, to resolve relations related to the maintenance of common property in a cottage community, the courts use housing legislation by analogy (in particular, the rules on the maintenance of common property in an apartment building).

Of course, the Housing Code of the Russian Federation contains norms regarding owners of individual residential buildings. For example, owners of residential buildings bear the costs of their maintenance and repairs, and also pay public utilities in accordance with agreements concluded with persons carrying out relevant types of activities. But it must be remembered that a cottage community is not just the sum of individual residential buildings, but an entire infrastructure.

Management of a cottage village must ensure favorable and safe living conditions for citizens, proper maintenance of common property, resolution of issues related to the use of said property, as well as the provision of utilities to citizens living in houses on the territory of the village.

The right to choose

Owners of individual residential buildings located on the territory of a cottage village, using the rights of homeowners, can choose the following forms of village management: hire a management company, create an HOA or residential complex, or independently conclude all agreements with suppliers of utilities and other services.

Owners of cottages have the right to choose such a method as management by a management organization (in this case, different forms of management can be combined). The management organization is only involved in management (in this case acts as an ordinary contractor), since the HOA, housing or other specialized consumer cooperative simply does not have the opportunity or does not want to independently operate, repair, maintain and maintain the common property of the village.

Management of managers

Under the management agreement, one party (the management organization), on the instructions of the other party (the owners of the houses, the board of the HOA or the board of the residential complex), within an agreed period for a fee, undertakes to provide services and carry out work on the proper maintenance and repair of the common property of the cottage village, to provide utilities home owners, to carry out other activities aimed at achieving the goals of managing the cottage village.

Basic (material) conditions that must be discussed between the owners and the management organization:

The composition of the common property in respect of which management will be carried out and its location;

A list of services and works for the maintenance and repair of common property, the procedure for changing such a list, as well as a list of utilities provided by the management organization;

The procedure for determining the price of the contract, the amount of payment for the maintenance and repair of the premises and the amount of payment for utilities, as well as the procedure for making such payment.

Among the home owners there should be initiators who will study the proposals of management organizations and select, in their opinion, the most suitable ones. It is advisable to offer the general meeting a choice of several management organizations, since the proposals will most likely be different in cost and composition of the proposed additional services. The optimal situation is when the developer of the cottage village later transforms into a management company or already offers ready-made organization with reasonable prices.

The convenience of this scheme lies in its simplicity, time saving and the absence of intermediaries in the form of HOAs or residential complexes that can charge additional fee or “re-invoice” for services with a markup on end consumers. In addition, the developer knows the infrastructure of the village, the location of communications, etc. better than anyone else.

However, abuses on the part of such a management company are possible. In practice, there are agreements on the basis of which cottages are built and in which a separate clause states the obligation of the future owner of the cottage to transfer his share in the common property of the cottage village to the management of one or another management company. The legality of including this kind of language in contracts seems questionable, since this limits the owner’s legal capacity to dispose of his property. The developer’s logic is simple: “There are many of you, but I am alone. Once you build it, then you have to “chase” after each owner and conclude an agreement.” The developer who owns the communications may simply not allow another management company to use its networks to supply, for example, electricity. Here everything depends on his literacy, on the “policy” of the management company.

HOA and residential complex

This method of managing a cottage community presupposes the presence of an institutional entity (legal entity) that carries out management. When managing a residential complex or HOA, these legal entities act as a mechanism to ensure the common interests of cottage owners. It should be especially noted that, in accordance with domestic legislation, HOAs and residential complexes do not have any rights to the common property of the cottage village that they manage.

Advantages of HOA:

All collected cash accumulated in the current account of the HOA, the movement of funds is controlled by the owners (the Audit Commission is elected);

Holding a tender among service and security companies allows us to provide owners with services with an optimal price-quality ratio;

Convenient and fast service owners due to the fact that the dispatch service and all maintenance personnel are located on the territory of the village;

Each owner can influence the quality and cost of services (by participating in the discussion of the cost estimate and its adoption at the meeting), be elected to the board or audit commission, make proposals to improve the activities of the partnership and eliminate shortcomings in the work of the executive directorate.

However, if when creating a HOA in an apartment building where the owners live permanently, it is possible to promptly gather citizens, then when forming an HOA in a cottage village, the adoption general solution may be delayed, since many owners of cottages do not live in them permanently.

The owner of a cottage located in a cottage village may not join either an HOA or a residential complex. He has the right to directly enter into contracts with utility service providers.

Composition of common property

Speaking about the management of a cottage village, one cannot fail to mention the problem of the composition of common property in the village. The list of common property in an apartment building is clearly stated in Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 13, 2006 No. 491. With the composition of common property in a cottage village, the situation is a little more complicated due to the absence of such a list in any regulatory act.

To determine the composition of the common property of cottage owners, it is necessary to know the construction project of a cottage village. Typically, the composition of the common property is specified in the contract on the basis of which the main structure (cottage) is erected.

Owners of cottages are obliged to bear the burden of expenses for the maintenance of common property in proportion to their shares in the right common property for this property by making mandatory payments and contributions from the owners of the premises, who are HOA members, housing, housing-construction cooperative or other specialized consumer cooperative. Thus, payment for the maintenance of common property is paid in proportion to the shares in the right of common ownership of this property and only on the basis of an appropriate agreement, the terms of which are determined on the basis of agreement of the parties. But what about a resident of a cottage community who has not concluded such an agreement, but nevertheless uses all the services (drives on cleared roads, uses guarded parking, etc.)? As shown arbitrage practice, in such cases Management Company appeals to the owners of cottages with a claim for the recovery of unjust enrichment in the amount of the cost of services.

Another problem is determining the share in the right of common ownership. Often the share in the total property of a cottage village is calculated based on the area of ​​the land plot under the cottage (dividing it by the area of ​​all premises in the cottage village). However, no general practice has yet been developed on this issue.

Thus, when managing a cottage community, many gaps in legislation are identified that can only be filled by judicial practice or regulatory regulation of the issue.

Malmygin Alexander,

Legal Advisor Law firm"LEV"

In the Russian legal field, a situation has arisen in which the actually existing object “cottage community” does not have a legal definition and regulation. In accordance with this, there are no legal provisions regarding the Management Company in the cottage village.

Therefore, there are certain criteria by which it is legally determined that these buildings belong to individual houses.

Nowadays it is customary to call it a big cottage Vacation home, and a cottage village is a conglomerate of such houses located in the neighborhood. The lack of regulatory certainty in these allows us to speak of a kind of legislative vacuum around the development of suburban construction. At the same time, a single plot of land is allocated for the construction of the entire village.

In the cottage village there is also a common area on which there is a general guest parking, a children's playground, village roads, street lighting, a metal fence, etc. In a cottage community, communications are most often shared: electricity, water supply, sewerage, etc. All this can be either the common property of the owners of houses located on the territory of the village, or remain the property of the developer of the cottage village, who can sell it or transfer it to management.

Consequently, a cottage village can be considered a collection of individual residential buildings located on a separate plot of land, connected by common communications and having its own infrastructure

The elements of a cottage village are: a plot of land provided for a cottage village; individual residential buildings(cottages) with land plots under houses assigned to the property; common property of cottage owners (communications, roads, parking, etc.), and infrastructure.

According to Art. 7 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation in cases where housing relations are not regulated by housing legislation or an agreement of participants in such relations, and in the absence of civil or other legislation directly regulating such relations, housing legislation regulating similar relations is applied to them, if this does not contradict their essence (analogy of law).

Courts, when considering disputes about management, about the maintenance of common property in a cottage community and about the payment of utility bills, apply the rules on an apartment building by analogy. The housing legislation deals in detail with the issue of managing an apartment building. The courts extend this design to the model of a cottage community, as a kind of “house” in which the “apartments” are cottages.

Residential property management in a cottage village is a professional organization of all life processes of the village in order to ensure comfortable stay cottage owners.

The service includes management and organizational work, including:

Concluding contracts and monitoring the work of service organizations;

Maintaining contractual relations with resource supply organizations;

Interaction government agencies local government bodies and participation in various commissions;

Analysis of the work of all organizations servicing the facility in order to optimize the costs of the owners;

Optimization organizational structure management and maintenance;

Working with owners on all issues, ensuring favorable and safe living conditions for citizens, resolving issues related to the use of common property.

Management of a cottage village must ensure: favorable and safe living conditions for citizens, proper maintenance of common property in the cottage village, resolving issues regarding the use of said property, as well as the provision of utilities to citizens living in houses in the village.

Owners of houses located on the territory of a cottage community, using the rights of homeowners, can enter into an agreement with a management company, create an HOA or LCD (housing cooperative), or independently conclude all agreements with utility providers. Combinations of control methods are possible.

Cottage owners have the right to entrust the management of their affairs to a management company. Management organization - a commercial organization providing professional management services apartment buildings. To apply the specified method of managing a cottage village, the general meeting of house owners must make decisions on choosing a method of managing the management organization; electing a specific management organization; terms of the management agreement with this management organization.

Under the management agreement, the management organization, on the instructions of the house owners, within an agreed period for a fee, undertakes to provide services and perform work on the proper maintenance and repair of the common property of the cottage village, provide utilities to the house owners, and carry out other activities aimed at achieving the goals of managing the cottage village.

Basic terms of the agreement between the owners and the management organization:

The composition of the property in respect of which management will be carried out and its location;

A list of services and works for the maintenance and repair of property, the procedure for changing such a list, as well as a list of utilities provided by the management organization;

The procedure for determining the price of the contract, the amount of payment for the maintenance and repair of common property and the amount of payment for utilities, as well as the procedure for making such payment;

The procedure for monitoring the management organization’s fulfillment of its obligations under the management agreement.

As a rule, a management company is created by a developer company. This is good both for the residents of the village (after all, no one knows the intricacies of the structure of the village better than the developer), and for the developer himself: after all, the created management company is a source of additional profit. Or the developer chooses a third-party management company on a competitive basis.

Advantages of a management organization created by the developer himself:

There are no problems with transferring the house to the management organization, all documents are transferred very quickly;

The company takes care of its house, it wants to keep it in good condition for as long as possible, and this is an indicator of the responsibility of the developer;

Residents will not have to hold meetings, resolve pressing issues, or spend their time ensuring decent operation of the house - all this falls on the shoulders of the management company.

Disadvantage of the management company:

The main thing that almost every management company “earns” from is tariffs for housing and communal services. In the absence of competition, the management company can set tariffs higher than the city average;

Inadmissibility of verification financial activities management company.

In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and Housing Code In the Russian Federation, there are no licensing restrictions on the creation of a management company in the provision of housing and communal services and life support for cottage villages, except that in official documents it is called a “management organization”.

The algorithm for creating a management company in the field of providing housing and communal services in a cottage village, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, has the following stages:

1. You can open a company in one of the organizational and legal forms:

LLC (Company with Limited Liability)

CJSC (Closed Joint-Stock Company)

OJSC (Open Joint Stock Company)

The simplest and best option is to open an LLC (Limited Liability Company). It is possible to open an LLC with virtually no initial capital, since the authorized capital can be contributed with property transferred by the developer.

2. In order to conduct state registration, first of all, you need to prepare a package of documents for registration, which includes: Decision on creation, Charter, etc. Then decide on the location of the company, the size of the authorized capital and you can submit an application for registration of the company. It will take at least two weeks to open a management company.

3. Limited Liability Company (LLC) - the most common and popular form commercial organization enterprises. Registration of an enterprise as an LLC is especially suitable for small and medium-sized businesses due to the small authorized capital (10,000 rubles), a simple management system and the absence of legal liability for owners of personal property.

When registering an LLC (Limited Liability Company), you must take into account:

Participants in a limited liability company can be citizens of the Russian Federation, Foreign citizens, as well as legal entities;

The founder of an LLC (Limited Liability Company) can be one person who also has the right to perform the functions executive body. A company cannot have another as its sole participant entity, consisting of one participant;

The number of company participants should not exceed 50 people;

The minimum authorized capital of an LLC (Limited Liability Company) is 10 thousand rubles and is not subject to taxes. Contribution to the management company ( Authorized Capital) society can have money, securities, property, property rights having a monetary value;

The participants of the company are not liable for its obligations and bear the risk of losses associated with the activities of the LLC (Limited Liability Company) within the limits of the value of the contributions made by them.

LLC registration consists of the following stages:

· Preparation for registration

· Registration of LLC with the tax authority

Application for application of the taxation system

· Print order

· Assignment of statistical codes

· Registration with the Foundation social insurance

· Registration in Pension Fund

· Registration in the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund

4. To register an LLC (Limited Liability Company), you must prepare the following documents:

· Application for registration of LLC (Limited Liability Company);

· Minutes of the general meeting of founders or the decision of the sole founder to create an LLC (Limited Liability Company);

· Letter of guarantee for the provision of non-residential premises.

· Request to tax authority on providing copies of constituent documents.

Behind last years very many wealthy people were able to move from a noisy and dusty city to a permanent residence outside the Moscow Ring Road into nature. But modern citizens do not want to turn into “primitive savages” and live without all the “charms” of civilization. And this can easily happen if the house they bought turns out to be standing in splendid isolation in the forest, and the rest land may be nearby, but not built up. Thus, it turns out that comfort outside the city does not arise by itself. In order for life outside the city not to be wild in the full sense of the word, someone must create and maintain the convenience of country life.

For such purposes, there are management companies on the market. With a good professional, owners of country houses usually do not have serious problems with life in the village. However, some management companies may not only fail to solve the difficulties that have arisen, but, on the contrary, create additional difficulties for residents of cottage villages. Just as the owners of suburban housing can be capricious and intractable, so management companies can be unscrupulous. Therefore, as practice shows, there are plenty of problems in this area of ​​the country market. In this article we will discuss the issue of emerging difficulties between management companies and residents of country mansions. Separately, aspects of the quality choice of a company and difficulties in determining payment for their services will be considered.

In accordance with modern legislation, the owner of a residential premises has the right to decide all issues regarding his housing himself, including the ability to find a manager for his property. It is important to remember that not only owners of city apartments have this right, but also owners of country houses. Many people remember this right, but in practice it is impossible to apply it, since in the suburban real estate market there is often simply no one to choose from. The current situation is such that competition in the management company market is quite weak. Perhaps over time everything will somehow change, but for now we have to be content with what we have. As a result, as often happens in the absence of proper competition, relations between such market participants as owners of suburban housing and management companies resemble protracted hostilities.

Where do management companies come from?

In the modern suburban real estate market, at the very beginning of the launch of a cottage village project, as a rule, the management company becomes the same company that is the developer of the given locality, that is, the development company itself creates the village management company. The benefit of that action is obvious. Such a company immediately knows what and where communications are located in the village and, most importantly, what quality they are.

If you imagine what is happening in a village that has just been built up and implemented in a consumer environment, then you can understand why it is very convenient that it is the developers who take the initiative into their own hands. It is clear that during the period of paperwork, residents are not yet worried about the convenience of life in the village. They have enough worries even when settling in country house. But the territories of the villages, even during the period of their formation, must somehow exist. Builders naturally want the villages they build to enjoy the popularity they deserve. In this regard, developers are trying to take care of their “brainchild” in the future. Do not forget that this is also a source of additional profit for them.

As practice shows, it takes two to three years for the owners of country houses to finish decorating their cottages, as well as landscaping the plots. But most importantly, regarding the issue of a management company, neighbors need to get to know each other well and learn to make joint decisions, and this takes time. During the initial formation of a cottage village, when the owners are still busy with their problems with their houses, development companies create management companies, which, in turn, will be able to create a good social and entertainment infrastructure, as well as carry out landscaping work and improve the territory of the village. Then comes the period of formation of the cottage village, when the owners of country houses are already asking questions about who and how manages their “native” village, taking money from them. At this time, the question is being decided whether the previous management company will remain in charge in this place or whether a new one will be chosen.

In order to change the management company, it is necessary to hold a general meeting of home owners in the cottage village and make an appropriate decision. But in practice, companies make a lot of effort to find a common language with village residents. In turn, homeowners also strive not to spoil relations with their “managers”. The thing is that they simply have nowhere to get away from each other. But there are examples when, in the suburban real estate market, management companies have changed at the initiative of homeowners.

And whose communications?

Quite often, sooner or later, as a result of clarification of relations between managers and owners of cottages, the question arises about who actually owns the communications located on the territory of the village. This issue may be especially acute on the agenda if the management company is not showing its best side and the amount of one-time and monthly communication payments seems unreasonable. In parallel with this, questions arise about how to make sure that this is the property of the owners of country estates. cottage houses. There is no misunderstanding with the concept that communications that are located on the territory of the house and site belong to the homeowner. But the distribution networks to which intra-house communication systems are connected may be owned by construction or management companies.

The possibility that such territorial communications belong to local self-government bodies cannot be ruled out. The activities of the management company will be regulated by the state if it acts as a resource supplying organization for consumers. If the interhouse communications of a cottage village belong to a management company, then the issues of managing such systems will be decided by local governments. Communications may also be owned by the developer. Then it is important to understand with what funds they were built. It may also be that distribution networks and other communication system facilities were built by the development company at its own expense. Then, accordingly, these systems belong to them by right of ownership.

If communications were built at the expense of cottage owners, then such communications systems belong to the property owners and they have the right to demand from construction companies transfer this component of the infrastructure to the general shared ownership. But in this case, cottage owners will have to bear the full costs of reconstruction and repair of equipment. But in the case when all communication systems work smoothly and efficiently, and the amount of payments for this comfort is an acceptable amount, then wealthy owners of luxurious mansions do not even think about who owns the village communications and on what rights.

How is the management company paid?

Tariffs for supplying electricity, gas, heating, water, and so on to homes in our country are set by the state through local and regional authorities. The management company, of course, does not have such rights. Owners of cottage-type housing should remember this and take this into account in their relations with management companies. Conscientious companies try to indicate the numbers of the relevant decisions of government authorities in all payment documents. Even if the management company is the owner of the communal systems of the cottage village and is itself involved in the production and supply of resources to the settlement, then the tariffs for services utilities should be established at the level of the subject of the Federation, since this sector of the economy is a network local monopoly.

If some company managing a cottage community decides that it has the right to set prices for utility services itself, to its own benefit, of course, then very soon it should have serious problems with the state antimonopoly service. As for the law, it very clearly protects the owners of their own homes and the management company, well, simply cannot take “additional” money from the owners. However, this law, like any other in our country, can be easily circumvented, which management companies are happy to do. In addition to official utility payments, management companies collect additional funds from residents of cottage villages, which are called “operating expenses” or “village fees”. Such an amount can no longer be regulated by the state and gives great scope for action by the management organization.

It is clear that the management company will not work just for a “thank you.” The general village fee includes the costs of maintaining the village infrastructure, the work of the management company, and remuneration of specialists. Every owner of a country house in the village is required to pay for such work. On general meeting residents of the village, which is usually held once a year, the management company must provide information about financial statements. At such an event, any resident of the village can express their opinion and make a proposal. The collection for management needs in villages of different economic formats will be of different amounts. In elite settlements it will be greater than in economy class settlements. This amount can only be influenced by a decision of the general meeting of homeowners in the cottage. At such a meeting, the list of company services and their prices will be discussed, with which cottage owners may agree or not.

The editors of the portal site asked leading speakers from management companies, owners of cottage villages and real estate agencies - how the life of the village is shaped after the completion of its construction.

The questions were answered:
, CEO Clever Estate Management Company

Editorial questions:

1. What forms of management of cottage settlements are practiced in the Moscow region?
2. What are the minimum and maximum cost of living in a cottage village, what payments are this amount made up of?
3. Do all residents of the village pay their bills on time? Is it possible to somehow influence non-payers?
4. Many houses in cottage villages are empty for various reasons, provided that the village has large public areas and infrastructure development, who pays their fees for the owners of such plots?
5. Are there villages that have internal rules and restrictions on the appearance of houses and plots? If so, how is this documented, who and how monitors compliance with these rules?
6. What are the main problems in managing a cottage community? Are there options for solving them?

General Director of Clever Estate Management Company.

Before answering this question, I need to point out one thing. Even if the village is positioned as a mini-city, as a replacement of urban housing with suburban housing, houses in it are built only according to one principle - according to the principle of individual housing construction. This means that the norms of the Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation in terms of technical standards of housing and providing residents with proper infrastructure are not applicable to it. And from a legal point of view, “managing a cottage community” is a very conditional concept. Such legal form- organized cottage villages - do not exist. There is a voluntary association of citizens on one development site, that’s what a cottage community is. Management and maintenance of the cottage community takes place on the basis of a concluded agreement with each homeowner.

2. I can’t say the minimum and maximum, there are many depending factors and a wide range of prices. And the average is like this. The total cost of living (utilities plus operating costs) in a cottage village is 15 thousand rubles per month per house. In a townhouse - 8-9 thousand rubles. Utility costs are the same as in the city, this is a fee for the use of resources: gas-water-electricity. Operating costs are somewhat different from city ones. This includes street lighting, cleaning the area and removing garbage, as well as clearing snow from the village. Additional operational services include landscaping and general improvement of the surrounding area.

3. In different ways. Most are still on time. Still, a resident of a cottage community is more organized, more focused on his personal comfort. Since the homeowner enters into an operating agreement with the management company at the stage of purchasing a house, he understands his monthly expenses. And people are initially willing to pay to ensure that the environment in which they live is comfortable. But if someone refuses to pay, there is no leverage over them. Not very pleasant measures remain: blocking the road, stopping garbage collection, turning off electricity, and so on. Only SNT has good leverage on non-payers, gardening partnerships. This is a legally organized unit, all members of the partnership have their own rights and obligations, everything is regulated by the rules. Unfortunately, this is not the case in cottage villages.

4. There are places common use inside the cottage village, payment for their services is divided among all residents. The more houses are occupied, the lower the cost of payment, and vice versa.

5. More likely no than yes, since all the houses in the cottage village are private story, individual housing construction. Theoretically, some restrictions are possible in gated club-type communities, but even then it is unlikely. The more “closed”, “club”, “elite” a village is, the more difficult it is to encourage its residents to comply with any rules and restrictions.

6. The main problems are problems of non-payments. But this issue is resolved in the ways that I have already mentioned above. But it must be said that this is - extreme measures. Basically, the management company still manages to encourage defaulters to comply with the terms of the contract through negotiations with it. Another problem is eliminating emergency situations and breakdowns that occur due to improper installation utility networks and communications. It often happens that they are laid in violation of technology, and these problems manifest themselves during operation. For example, cable rupture occurs due to the fact that when it was laid, soil subsidence was not taken into account. Or sewer systems stop working correctly due to the fact that the pipes were laid at the wrong angle, or an insufficient number of “storm drains” were made. All these problems are fixed by the management company, sometimes with the assistance of regional emergency services, and the costs fall on the shoulders of the homeowners.

, project manager at Vector Investments

More and more buyers are concerned about issues of operation and its cost. Already during the implementation of the first Vector Investments project, the company began to think about this topic and attracted consultants from among external management companies. Unfortunately, we received astronomical figures for the cost of managing our villages, in addition, we were offered inconvenient ways of collecting funds from those who do not want to pay or are absent from Russia. Therefore, the solution to this aspect of the issue fell on the developer, since none of the operators wanted to take on the corresponding functions.

Country projects are most often considered from idea to implementation. This is a long process consisting of different stages (concept sketch, concept, design, construction, sales and finally full implementation). At the same time, it is somehow overlooked that even after the end of sales, the existence of the village does not cease. On the contrary, now the project is living a real life - albeit separately from the developer.

Today, the developer who implements the project efficiently and on time, without deceiving the expectations of its customers in any way, is considered responsible. But everything that happens after is, by and large, the responsibility of the village residents themselves.

At the initial stage of project implementation, the developer organizes an operating division, whose activities are mainly aimed at maintaining the facility at minimal cost and servicing engineering structures in the village. Over time, as the project develops, the department becomes involved in administrative tasks, from this moment we can already talk about the emergence of a management company. But even at this stage there is still a long way to go before making a profit.

So, a responsible developer most often brings the project to completion and transfers it to a professional management company (if his reputation allows him to attract professionals to the new village).

When the project is fully implemented, there are 2 main plots related to management and operation: a third-party management company is working or residents manage the village on their own. In the first case, all operational, as well as a number of administrative functions are performed by a professional management company, which is involved in the project by the developer. The main activities of the management company in the village are routine maintenance village networks, providing round-the-clock security, maintaining and repairing roads within the village, maintaining cleanliness in the territory, removing and disposing of garbage, providing night lighting, organizing emergency services, maintaining public areas, controlling administrative costs.

In the second case, the owners of cottages or plots in the village, having united in a non-profit organization (HOA, housing or consumer cooperative, etc.), independently perform the functions of a management company, hire the appropriate personnel, and purchase inventory.

In any case, the owners must create an association of citizens to manage their village. As a rule, after putting the village into operation (until this point the development company is in charge of the operation), the owners at a general meeting make a decision on the choice of the method of managing the village, i.e. for or against attracting a management company.

There is another option: sometimes a management company is created by the developer as a division within its structure. However, this approach still remains an exception for the suburban market (the activity of its own management company does not bring quick profits to the developer).

In the Istra Valley, all villages, as well as all infrastructure facilities, are serviced by our own management company from the developer, which allows us to control the quality of our products throughout their entire life. life cycle, and not just until the implementation of each of the villages.

If a management company in the structure of a development company serves several villages on a common territory, the planned loss-making period can be significantly reduced and profitability can be achieved much faster. Plus, which is important, in addition to financial profit, the developer also increases his reputational capital. In fact, he does not distance himself from the fate of his villages even after they are fully implemented, he leads projects throughout their existence (which, in my opinion, represents a new level of responsibility to the buyer).

By the way, your own management company is also indirect evidence that the developer chooses high-quality materials and builds conscientiously, since you will have to deal with the consequences of hackwork yourself, whenever they appear. With this approach, creating a company’s own management division “unexpectedly” turns out to be beneficial for the developer. So our decision to create the Vector Service Management Company, which serves the villages and infrastructure of the Istra Valley, is not just an indicator of responsibility to customers, but also a reasonable business decision.

Management services in villages using the example of the Istra Valley (list of services, tariffs).

The benefit for buyers that the village is managed by the developer’s own management company is not so obvious at first glance. Yes, residents will not have to deal with hiring staff, purchasing equipment, etc., but they will have to pay the management company for doing this. The numbers can be quite round.

It’s another matter if the same staff of employees and the same fleet of service equipment are involved in the management and operation of several villages - then the costs of the owners are reduced, and the savings on operating costs are noticeable.

In the villages of the Istra Valley, the cost of basic operating expenses (such as round-the-clock security, night lighting, waste removal and disposal, maintenance of roads and public areas, routine and emergency maintenance of village networks, etc.) is 1.5-2 times lower than in market average. For example, in the village of Nikitskoye (economy class) payments are 2-3 thousand rubles per month, in Ecopark-Ushakovo (business class) - 4.5-5.5 thousand rubles per month, in (premium class) - 8-12 thousand rubles per month.

For comparison: on average, operating payments in elite villages today amount to 20-30 thousand rubles per month (or more - it depends on the infrastructure), in business class - 15-25 thousand rubles. These are normal, market figures; It is possible to reduce management and operation costs (and, accordingly, prices for owners) only by involving the management company in the management of several projects in one territory.

The main services provided by Vector Service:

• technical maintenance and cleaning of roads and public areas;
• care of organized green spaces;
• cleaning of territories, garbage removal and sanitary maintenance of places
• common use;
• organizing and conducting village-wide events;
• technical maintenance, scheduled and emergency repairs of general village
• engineering networks;
• issuance of approvals and permits for construction works in villages;
• control over the progress of construction;
• taking readings from meters for energy resources consumed by owners, etc.

In addition to the mandatory options, Vector Service also provides additional services:

for waste removal directly from sites; repair and maintenance of communications; uprooting, trimming and planting trees in areas, etc. In the future, we plan to organize a plant nursery in the Istra Valley so that owners can choose and purchase them for landscaping their plots.

For a more detailed illustration, here are the figures for expenses in some villages of the Istra Valley.

Operating costs in the villages of the Istra Valley::

• Nikitskoye (economy class) - 2-3 thousand rubles. / month
• Shelestovo (economy class) - 4.5 - 5.5 thousand rubles. / month
• Lesnaya pier (business class) - 7-10 thousand rubles. / month
• Lesnaya Pristan-2 (business class) - 6-7 thousand rubles. / month
• Ecopark Ushakovo (business class) - 4.5 - 5.5 thousand rubles. / month
• Lake District (business class) - 6-7 thousand rubles. / month
• Ushakovsky Dachas (business class) - 7-10 thousand rubles. / month
• Quiet Zavod (business class) - 5-6 thousand rubles. / month
• ZORINO ACTIVE RESORT, ZORINO SPORT VILLAGE (business class) - 6-7 thousand rubles. / month
• Lake Side (premium class) - 8-12 thousand rubles. / month

In general, I must say that minimizing the costs of managing and operating a village is an important task. The market is gradually developing, the buyer now understands that you can save not only (and not even so much) at the time of the transaction. It is important to avoid false economies - everyone has long known how you can “save” by buying a plot without communications (so that the cost of supply may then exceed the cost of the plot itself).

The understanding has come that “empty”, non-functional meters at the finishing stage can also cost a round sum (for example, 1500 USD per sq.m.)

The same is true with operating payments: people are interested in advance about what and how much they will have to pay when living in the village. Gradually, people are realizing that a developer who leads his project throughout its entire life cycle (invents, implements and then manages what happens) is perhaps worthy of trust.

And, although for now for the market countryside real estate the appearance of the developer’s own management company in the structure remains an exception to general rule. But sooner or later the market will realize all the advantages of such a solution for both the developer and the residents of the villages; and I am glad that we were among the first to come to this understanding.

Rubtsov Vadim Igorevich, Leading Specialist " Real estate company"Russian Real Estate House"

1. The management of the village is carried out by a management company created by the developer. Subsequently, residents of the village can choose another management company.

2. Payments consist of a fixed part, which depends on the size of the plot (in our villages 500 rubles per hundred square meters per month) which includes security, cleaning of the territory, repair and maintenance of infrastructure. Payment for gas, water, electricity occurs according to meters. Maintenance of the house is 250-300 sq. m. costs from 15,000 to 30,000 rubles per month.

3. The main way to deal with non-payers is to turn off gas or electricity.

4. For unfinished houses or without finishing, such methods are not effective, and payments are redistributed among bona fide payers.

5. In many villages, coordination of buildings with the village architect or management company is mandatory. The buyer is obliged to enter into an appropriate agreement with the management company.

6. They exist in the form of an HOA to control the management company and make important decisions.

Dmitry Kotrovsky, Vice President of the development company Khimki Group

1. There are two main forms of management of organized cottage villages (OCS). The first is the management company. In this case, homeowners hire a management company (select it through a tender or by mutual agreement). Second option - creation of a homeowners association, when the owners themselves create a governing body, which includes the most active of them. An HOA usually consists of a manager (chairman) and an accountant. Must be supervisory authority- an audit commission that controls financial flows.

2. There is a lower limit of the norm - 23-24 rubles per square meter each home per month. This standard includes garbage removal, maintenance of networks and cleaning of the territory - cutting the grass in summer, removing snow from roadways and sidewalks in winter. This figure can be about 50, 100 or even 200 rubles per month per 1 sq. meter of house area, it depends on what the residents decide to include in operating costs. This could be security with inspection at a checkpoint or patrolling the territory by armed guards, video surveillance, removing garbage from private property, cleaning paths and caring for plants in public areas (watering, fertilizing, mowing) in the summer, completely clearing the roadway from snow (to asphalt) ) etc. If the village has a closed sports and social infrastructure, then its maintenance significantly increases the burden on the budget of each individual household. This could be the maintenance of a tennis court (lighting, maintaining the lawn), a football field, a swimming pool, etc.

3. There is an opinion that buyers of expensive houses with large areas pay living expenses automatically, perhaps a year in advance, without creating problems for the HOA or management company. However, this is not the case. It is the big houses that, as a rule, are defaulters, and not because they don’t have money, but for them it’s just such a small thing that should be resolved somehow by itself. Such owners may not live in their home at all, having bought it for status, investment, or for their children to grow up with. They or their representative appear once a year and the task of the HOA or management company is to catch him and receive payments for the missed period. It is rare when all owners pay regularly obligatory payments and, as a rule, the management company or HOA is required to look for various options, to be cunning, because the entire village needs to be served, but not everyone pays. Imagine the situation: in a new village, street lights located near each house are connected to the street. And some owners say that they don’t need street lighting. What to do: turn on the lights selectively at the houses of those who pay? And will the street be illuminated in places? What about security issues?

House owners are all different, and many have their own vision of fixed expenses, because they have huge expenses associated with home repairs, equipment landscape design etc. Therefore, in the HOA it is important to work with the population, the authority of the HOA chairman, so that the residents, in principle, can come to a consensus. If some of the owners do not pay the obligatory payments, then the HOA posts lists of debtors, initiates disconnecting houses from the networks, and, in the most extreme case, goes to court to collect debts.

4. If we talk about general expenses, then, in fact, conscientious payers pay for willful defaulters, because it is impossible to clear the road of snow and mow the lawn “in places.” Residents of OKP can be divided into three categories: those who want to pay and pay because they understand that it affects the quality of life; those who want to pay, but cannot - because the costs of repairs are high or the house was bought with a mortgage. And those who do not want to pay, even having the opportunity.

5. In most organized cottage villages, especially business class and above, there are a number of restrictions on changing appearance facades, roofs, even fences. Their compliance is monitored by the HOA or Management Company. In our residential complex“Olympic Village Novogorsk”, the buyer of a home ownership at the stage of concluding a contract signs a number of regulatory documents that in the future will keep him within the framework of compliance with the general architectural concept of the village.

6. Three main groups of problems can be distinguished.

1. Late payment of operating costs by owners, as a result of which the HOA or management company is forced to save money or fail to fulfill a number of obligations.
2. Deficiencies on the part of the developer at the stage of the transfer act finished object- very often problems related to the quality of construction fall on the shoulders of the management company or HOA, while the developer should and can correct them.
3. Organization of the work of a management company or HOA - transparency, activity, readiness for dialogue and compromise. Homeowners' associations or management companies are, in fact, structures operating in the service sector. They provide services and receive a certain income for it. Their task is to strive to ensure that the services are performed with high quality, and the customer of the services is satisfied.

Irina Kalinina, CEO of TWEED real estate agency

1. Today there are two main forms of management of cottage villages. This is either a management company with which residents enter into an agreement for servicing the village, or an HOA. For example, in villages such as Greenfield and Millennium Park, management functions have been transferred to special companies.

2. In the elite segment, the minimum cost of living in the village is 10 thousand rubles per month, and the maximum is about 60 thousand rubles per month. For example, in the Rubin Estate village, the price of service is based on 30 rubles per “square” of house area. Thus, the owner of a cottage with an area of ​​about 350 sq.m. pays just over 10 thousand rubles per month for utilities.

3. Unfortunately, not everyone pays on time. And even residents of elite villages often forget to pay the required amount for the services of management companies. There are various measures of influence on willful defaulters - for example, they may have their communications blocked. A more radical option is to restrict entry into the village. That is, if the owner does not pay for the services on time, his guests may simply not be allowed into the village. Moreover, it is possible that the owner himself will not be able to drive to his home. Legally, this is in no way justified, however, management companies resort to such measures.

5. Similar restrictions apply in many villages, and especially in the premium segment. It is clear that if the village is strictly conceptual - for example, like the Moscow region "Dauville" and "Trouville" - then the owner will not be allowed to build anything on the site, and all restrictions will be necessarily recorded in the purchase and sale agreement of the property. As a rule, the management company monitors compliance with the rules of development and registration of sites.

6. The main problem in villages managed by the house owners themselves is the inability to raise money for public needs. For example, if a homeowners association decides to place a new children’s playground on the territory of the village, not everyone will want to “fork out the cash.” That is, it is almost never possible to collect 100% of the amount, and this problem is relevant not only for inexpensive villages, but also in the elite segment too.