Apartment sketch: buyers of new buildings are dissatisfied with the quality of housing and the work of the Management Committee

More than 70% of the reviews about Russian new buildings turned out to be negative. Residents complain about the quality of construction, the work of management companies, noise and lack of parking. At the same time, some buyers are ready to purchase apartments for 10-20% more expensive if there is a developed infrastructure next to the residential complex. What difficulties the owners face after moving and how to defend their rights are described in the Izvestia article.

What are the newcomers complaining about?

The main reasons for Russians' discontent after settling into new buildings were the work of the Management Committee and the quality of housing. This was told to Izvestia by Exeni specialists who analyzed more than 66 thousand comments on the Internet.

— One of the most interesting results of the study is that residents evaluate a new building much more broadly than just by the quality of the apartment, — said Alexey Gvintovkin, Candidate of Sociological Sciences, founder of the analytical platform. — After settling in, the work of the management company, the cost of maintaining the house, relations with neighbors, parking and accessibility of infrastructure come to the fore. In fact, a person acquires not only square meters, but the environment in which he has to live.

The study showed that 71% of the analyzed comments were negative, 16% were neutral, and only 13% were positive.

Other reasons for discontent include noise from neighbors, lack of parking spaces, inconvenient layout, security issues and the location of the residential complex.

— It is also significant that the results for the largest cities vary slightly — only by a few percent. This suggests that many of the problems are not local, but systemic," added Alexey Gvintovkin. — buyers evaluate not only the apartment itself before the transaction, but also the living conditions after receiving the keys.

Complaints about the quality of construction and the work of the Management Company are largely justified, but the addressee is often chosen incorrectly, said Yolanta Ovchinnikova, a leading expert on the design of service concepts at the Developer's School. The developer is responsible for the defects, not the management company.

"The difference between the renderings and the fact is also causing discontent," she said. — The renders were made 3-5 years ago, when imported materials and equipment were used. Now they have to be changed and the product is cheaper. There are also questions about the timing of the elimination of deficiencies. Previously, it took up to three months, but now the wait can last for one and a half to two years. Such claims are well-founded.

The shortage of parking spaces is another serious problem in today's market. The authorities are currently working on its solution, said Dmitry Proskurin, commercial director of Metrium. For example, the Moscow government has significantly increased the coefficient of provision of new buildings with parking spaces. In addition, the public transport network is intensively developing.

"Thanks to the development of modern technologies and the effective work of supervisory authorities, developers practically do not allow gross violations during the implementation of projects," he recalled. — The quality of the product is regularly improved, the number of planning solutions is increasing, and the own infrastructure of residential complexes is becoming more saturated.

However, the outflow of buyers seems inevitable in the context of a long-term tight monetary policy, he added. However, shareholders still vote with the ruble for a higher level of comfort and liquidity compared to the "old fund" and even ready-made new buildings of the 2010s and early 2020s. Also, the demand in the primary market is supported by flexible marketing tools from developers, primarily installments and subsidized mortgages with reduced interest rates for a certain period, discount promotions and loyalty programs.

Why are there so many unhappy people

Any new house is a complex engineering structure, Maxim Gladchenko, Commercial Director of Glavstroy, emphasized. According to him, even if all the requirements for design and construction are met, individual shortcomings can be discovered only after settlement, when all systems and equipment begin to work under real load, and communal spaces are used daily.

— Therefore, it is the first apartment owners who are more often faced with the need to eliminate comments, — the expert believes. — This is one of the reasons why new buildings may receive disproportionately many negative reviews at the initial stage of operation (up to 70%). This is a natural process.

At the same time, the statistics of user ratings, as Maxim Gladchenko pointed out, should be considered in context: the number of complaints in itself does not indicate a systemic low quality of construction, and usually all problems are solved by developers together with management companies.

— Most often, residents contact us with specific technical issues: they are concerned about the operation of engineering systems and equipment, the condition of communal property, and the organization of parking lots, — said Maxim Gladchenko. — Cases of so-called consumer terrorism are extremely rare. Therefore, we review each application and submit it to work.

Other frequent comments include the operation of elevators, heating systems, landscaping and maintenance of public spaces.

According to Yolanta Ovchinnikova, this situation has developed due to haste. After the end of the moratorium, developers are again threatened with a penalty for failure to meet deadlines, so many are in a hurry to put facilities into operation at any cost, sometimes to the detriment of quality.

— The second reason is related to materials: not all imported finishing coatings and equipment managed to find decent domestic analogues, — the expert explained.

Over the past few years, the criteria for choosing housing have become broader, Yulia Bocharnikova, executive director of the federal company Etagi, confirmed. Previously, most buyers were only interested in "walls, floor, ceiling," price, area, and layout, but now they are acquiring not just square meters, but a full-fledged and comfortable life and development scenario.

"That's why they look not only at the apartment itself, but also at the infrastructure, the concept of landscaping and filling commercial premises, stroll around the area, read reviews about the chosen location," she confirmed.

In addition, more and more attention is being paid to services within residential complexes. People want to see not just housing in new buildings, but multifunctional spaces in the "five-minute city" format. Some buyers are willing to overpay 10-20% for such benefits.

How to defend your rights

The high cost of an apartment and its quality are far from synonymous, said Alexander Yakubovsky, deputy chairman of the State Duma commission on ensuring housing rights of citizens.

"People pay tens of millions of rubles, take out mortgages for decades, and after settling in, they face poor sound insulation, construction defects, problems with engineering systems, and unsatisfactory work by management companies," he said. — And quite naturally, they have a question: what exactly did they give such money for?

The deputy noted that the price per square meter today is largely determined by the cost of land, credit resources, and market demand, but not always by the actual quality of the facility. In addition, developers are selling people not just apartments, but promises of a comfortable life — landscaped courtyards, modern infrastructure, and high standards of service.

— There are mechanisms for protecting the rights of owners, — the parliamentarian reminded. — For construction defects, it is necessary to make demands to the developer, for the quality of service to the management company, and in the absence of a response, contact the supervisory authorities and the court.

Moreover, if the Management Company systematically fails to fulfill its duties, the owners have the right to initiate its replacement in accordance with the procedure established by law.

— However, in my opinion, the issue of the developer's responsibility for the correspondence of the advertising image and reality has not been sufficiently resolved, — Alexander Yakubovsky emphasized. — At the same time, the economic difficulties of the construction industry should not become an excuse for poor quality housing.

Valery Tumin, Director of the Russian and CIS Markets at Pham Properties, reminded that the identified defects should be reported to the developer in writing. If there is a dispute about the causes and extent of deficiencies, an examination may be required. When it is not possible to reach an agreement, the issue is resolved in court.

"With the work of the Criminal Code, I would act in the same substantive way: I demanded the fulfillment of specific duties," the expert said. At the same time, changing the management company should not be considered as a way to fix all the shortcomings. Some of them can be eliminated by adjusting the windows, eliminating leaks, and cleaning up. Others are much more difficult to fix: for example, add parking spaces in an already built-up courtyard or change the layout of the territory. Therefore, even before buying, I would evaluate not only the apartment, but also how the house will live after settling in: how many parking spaces are provided, what is already working nearby, and what still exists only in promises.

Developers who value their reputation and customers find funds and fix problems, although it may take longer, said Yolanta Ovchinnikova. Management companies interested in further home maintenance sometimes take over part of the warranty work. For example, they can replace a loose tile on their own, without waiting for the developer. However, they cannot always fix more serious malfunctions: elevator repairs may require a long wait, and poor waterproofing and flooding of the parking lot remain the developer's entire area of responsibility.