Buying an apartment with illegal redevelopment: risks, possible problems, solutions and advice from re altors

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

According to current legislation, any work related to the layout of apartments must be approved by the relevant regulatory authorities. However, as practice shows, some irresponsible citizens neglect this, as a result of which people who buy secondary housing have certain problems. Besides? normative acts are constantly supplemented and changed, therefore, what used to be correct, at some point in time may cease to be so. Against this background, one quite logical question arises: what is the risk of buying an apartment with an illegal redevelopment? Let's try to understand this in more detail and find out what risks real estate buyers will face, as well as how to insure yourself and avoid a lot of problems.

General information

Before tellingabout what threatens to buy an apartment with an illegal redevelopment, let's look at the basic terms and the regulatory framework. The process of making changes to the project of residential buildings is regulated by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. It spells out all the terms, the procedure for issuing permits, provides a classification of redevelopment, and also determines the pen alty for any violations of the law.

It is important to understand that not all work on changing the configuration of a dwelling requires a permit. In some cases, it will be enough to just notify the BTI about the planned repair, so that the employees of this government organization will document future changes. These include the following:

• transfer of plumbing equipment;
• mounting a doorway in a bearing wall;
• refurbishment and glazing of balconies;
• construction of a vestibule that increases the thermal insulation characteristics of residential premises;
• construction of interior partitions;
• transfer doorways.

Purchasing an apartment with illegal redevelopment in any of the above cases does not threaten anything, since they do not contradict the norms of the Housing Code and do not require obtaining permits.

Key regulatory requirements

Let's take a closer look at them. If your plans include buying an apartment, illegal redevelopment can cause a lot of problems, for example,if you later want to re-register the documents or resell the living space. Therefore, you should know in which cases it is forbidden to make any changes to the configuration of residential premises. These include the following:

• if, as a result of redevelopment, living conditions worsen or it makes it difficult to access communications;
• place becomes unsafe or uninhabitable;
• in the case when the work affects parts of the house that are reserved for the activities of the civil defense services or the Ministry of Emergency Situations;
• affect the strength and durability of load-bearing structures;
• create a threat of collapse of a building or interfere with the normal operation of neighboring buildings;
• deteriorate ventilation equipment;
• increase the load on supporting structures.

Buying an apartment with illegal redevelopment in this case is undesirable, because it is fraught with negative consequences. See below for more details on what consequences you may face.

Types of residential conversions

So what do you need to know about this? If you have weighed all the risks of buying an apartment with illegal redevelopment and agree to take such a risky step, then you need to have a detailed idea of what it could be. The current legislation divides the reconstruction of living space into two types:

• simple;
• difficult.

The difference between themis that in the first case it is necessary to provide the regulatory authorities with only a sketch, and in the second case it is necessary to develop a project. If you plan to move doorways or move plumbing equipment, then it will be enough to submit a sketch to the BTI for approval. In addition, all changes to the plan of the apartment will be required.

Complex redevelopment is more problematic and time consuming, since you will need to develop and approve a project in several government organizations. The whole process takes about six months, and you will also have to pay an average of 60,000 rubles. After the permit documentation is received, the owner of the apartment needs to notify the BTI, which conducts a technical inspection and issues an act.

If you bypass this procedure, then certain consequences may arise when buying an apartment. Unauthorized redevelopment, if detected by the relevant regulatory authorities, is punishable by applicable law.

What happens if you buy a property with an unapproved reconfiguration?

Many people are interested in the question of what threatens illegal redevelopment when buying an apartment. And this is not surprising, because the secondary market is full of offers for the sale of housing with various violations. In this case, the entire responsibility lies not with the seller, but with the buyer. Therefore, when choosing an apartment, you should be very careful in studying its technical passport and other documentation. After all, ifafter the transaction is completed, any violations will be detected by the regulatory authorities in the future, then you will have to pay a fine.

Purchasing a home on credit

So what do you need to know about this? Unlegalized redevelopment when buying an apartment on a mortgage is possible only when there are no discrepancies between the technical documentation and the actual plan of the property. In this case, everything is not so scary, since all responsibility lies entirely with the person acting as the legal owner of the housing at the time of the purchase / sale transaction. Therefore, if you do not have enough money to purchase living space for cash and you want to get a loan for it, it is recommended that you first consult with a specialist who can check all the documentation for compliance with basic legal standards.

What risks should I consider?

This aspect should be given special importance. As mentioned earlier, the consequences of illegal redevelopment when buying an apartment is a monetary pen alty. Its size depends on many factors and in some cases reaches very decent amounts. As a rule, you can get away with paying a fine if the change in the configuration of the housing did not entail any consequences, namely, it did not harm neighboring premises or buildings, as well as their owners. Otherwise, the legislation provides for criminal liability, which is already more serious. In addition, the victima party can seek additional pen alties through the courts, and in most cases they succeed in obtaining them. Such cases include the following:

• violation in the functioning of ventilation;
• manifestation of any mechanical damage on the facade of buildings;
• decrease in the sound insulation characteristics of load-bearing structures.

If you are planning a redevelopment, it is better not to cheat, because the noise of construction tools will certainly tell neighbors about the repair, who can report to the relevant regulatory authorities. In addition, work may not be carried out in compliance with the basic rules and regulations and lead to a disruption in the operation of housing communications.

Illegal redevelopment can be detected by representatives of public utilities when taking readings from individual energy meters. Due to the specifics of their activities, they will be forced to notify the relevant authorities, whose representatives will come with an inspection and, at best, issue a fine. In addition, the changes made will not be made to the technical and cadastral passport, and therefore, these documents will be invalid, and you will have problems with the subsequent resale of housing.

The main risks of buying an apartment with illegal redevelopment are as follows:

• Unilateral termination of the transaction and its invalidation.
• Seizure of property in favor of the state. Most often, this happens when the buyer knew that the changes to the premises were made illegally, and he deliberately went todeal.
• The arrest of the property until all violations are eliminated by its current owner.

As for sellers, they do not risk anything, except for the loss of housing in value. As mentioned earlier, they are absolutely not responsible for anything. Therefore, buyers should take their choice of living space seriously, since the associated risks are very high these days. It is recommended to think carefully before agreeing to any deals.

How to be buyers?

Each person should be very responsible approach to the acquisition of housing. This is especially true in cases where the purchase of an apartment with an illegal redevelopment into a mortgage is carried out, because after signing the contract, you will be the owner of the property and all responsibility will fall on you. In this case, there are two options for solving the problem: to redo all the documents for housing within the time frame stipulated by law, or to return the premises to their original state. The first method is less costly and time consuming, so it's best to stick with it.

How to legalize unauthorized change of housing

Let's dwell on this aspect in more detail. So, you bought an apartment with illegal redevelopment. What can be done to avoid problems with the law? The answer to this question was given above: re-register documents for housing. However, you must understand that all related costs are borne by you, and not by the seller. You will need to collectthe following documents:

• application for changing the configuration of the premises;
• technical data sheet;
• original and copy of the purchase / sale agreement;
• copy of the civil passport of the person for whom the apartment is registered;
• new plan;
• Written consent of all family members for redevelopment.

You will have only 6 months to resolve all these issues, so after buying a home it is better not to postpone, but immediately start collecting documents, since it takes a lot of time. At the same time, you must be well versed in all legal aspects. As they say, ignorance of the law is no excuse, and in matters related to real estate, there are a lot of pitfalls. And buying an apartment with an illegal redevelopment is a rather dubious enterprise, which should be approached with all caution. Therefore, it will be useful to first get advice from lawyers. This will not only significantly speed up the process, but also avoid many problems in the future.

What to look for when choosing a home?

To avoid buying an apartment with illegal redevelopment, you must carefully study the documents for it. If there are any violations or illegal changes, then you can easily detect them by them. You can do this using one of the following methods:

1. Often, during redevelopment, there is a change in the initial characteristics of adjacent structures, on the basis of whichresidents of neighboring apartments can guess about the illegality of actions and notify the inspection authorities about this. On the basis of the complaint received, the commission leaves at the specified address. If at the same time discrepancies between the state of housing and its plan are revealed, then the owner will be obliged to pay a monetary pen alty and return everything to its original state.
2. A similar scenario occurs if, during the process of changes, gross violations of building codes and rules were committed, which led to communication failures, as a result of which emergency teams were called in to fix the problems. In this case, the amount of the fine will be much higher, and a criminal case may be initiated on the fact of the incident.
3. The illegality of the redevelopment can be detected by public utilities employees in the process of taking readings from individual meters for energy consumption, who can also send an application to the appropriate authorities.

Any of the above cases will be recorded and reflected in the relevant documentation, so if you are serious about studying it when buying an apartment, you can avoid a lot of problems.

Conclusion

Today, many people decide to buy an apartment with an illegal redevelopment, since the cost of such an apartment is much lower, in a similar way they want to save money. However, you need to weigh the pros and cons well. It is far from always possible to legitimize changes in the configuration of premises or eliminate them, and the consequences maybe pretty serious. It is better not to take risks once again and not to make dubious deals. And if you finally decide to purchase housing with illegal redevelopment, then carefully read the technical documentation and make sure that after the purchase you can do everything in accordance with the requirements of the law. Only in this way can you be sure that justice will not overtake you.