Real estate innovations: what awaits owners and shareholders in December 2025

From December 2025, important legislative changes will begin to take effect in Russia, which will directly affect apartment owners in apartment buildings and participants in shared-equity construction. The adjustments will affect the management of common property, the procedure for paying utility bills and the responsibility of developers. 1. Democracy in the house: new rules for common property The main purpose of the amendments is to transfer key decisions about the fate of the common property directly to the owners' meeting, limiting the sole actions of management companies or individual tenants. Coordination of changes in appearance. Any work affecting the facade or architectural appearance of the house (installation of air conditioners, satellite dishes, awnings, grilles) will require mandatory approval at the general meeting from December 1. The decision will be considered accepted if the owners who own more than 50% of the votes vote for it. Commercial use of common areas. To advertise on the facade or to rent out premises in the basement or in the attic, you will need the support of at least two thirds of the votes of the owners. All such decisions should be officially recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The new figure is the meeting administrator. A responsible person (administrator) will appear in each MCD, whose duties will include organizing meetings, accurate vote counting and mandatory entry of the results into the state housing and Communal Services information system (GIS Housing and communal services). Termination of the contract with the Management Company. The procedure for changing the management company at the initiative of tenants is being simplified. This can be done after one year of the contract. Early termination remains possible only if serious violations by the Criminal Code are proven in court. 2. Adjustment in payment for housing and communal services From the beginning of December, the rules for transmitting meter readings and calculating payments for housing and communal services will change. Specific dates for the formation of receipts and the timing of meter readings will be set by regional authorities, so residents of different regions of the Russian Federation should clarify innovations at the local level. 3. Completion of the grace period for developers For participants in shared-equity construction, a transition period is coming, associated with the end of support under the "moratorium on fines." The rights of shareholders until the end of 2025. Citizens still have the opportunity to obtain a court delay in collecting penalties, penalties and fines from developers until December 31, 2025. Deferrals granted by courts before June 30, 2025, will be automatically extended until the end of the year without additional applications. The return of full responsibility for developers. Starting from January 1, 2026, special measures to support developers will cease to be in effect. The moratorium on the imposition of financial sanctions for postponing the completion of facilities will not be extended. This means that developers will again be fully responsible for violating the terms of equity participation agreements. Currently, the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation is developing a mechanism for restructuring accumulated debts on fines for development companies.