The State Duma proposed housing leasing as an alternative to preferential mortgages

According to the head of the parliamentary committee on construction and Housing and Communal Services, there is an active discussion of new mechanisms for buying real estate

In the future, housing leasing may become one of the alternatives to preferential mortgage programs. This was stated on the air of Duma TV by the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services Sergey Pakhomov.

“The state or the region may introduce industry support. For example, to subsidize part of your rent, for example, to doctors. That is, conditional leasing of housing with the possibility of gradual purchase of a ready-made apartment, with a fixed rent — this is a good option,” Sergei Pakhomov said.

According to the deputy, there is currently an active discussion of new mechanisms for buying real estate. After all, the country cannot live with only one mechanism for buying housing, which was a preferential mortgage, Pakhomov noted.

What is housing leasing?

Housing leasing is a type of long—term rental of residential real estate, which implies subsequent purchase. The owner of the apartment (or house) and the tenant conclude a lease agreement. It just prescribes the opportunity to buy a house. According to the agreement, the tenant pays the lease payments and the purchase price in installments. The minimum down payment is from 10% to 40% of the cost of housing for different companies. The term of the contract should not exceed ten years. After the tenant pays the entire amount for the apartment, a purchase and sale agreement is concluded, and the apartment becomes the property of the tenant.

This is not the first time Sergey Pakhomov has offered housing leasing as an alternative to a preferential mortgage. In the spring of 2024, he announced this at a conference of the Association of Banks of Russia. According to the deputy, leasing can be a good substitute when many potential buyers have difficulties with the need to rent a home during the construction of a house, as well as problems with accumulating a down payment on a mortgage.

This week, the Association of Banks of Russia proposed to the government to change some rules of preferential mortgage programs. Bankers reported a problem related to determining the time from which financial and credit institutions begin to receive subsidies for compensation of the mortgage rate to a preferential level. Under the new conditions, banks begin to receive subsidies for reducing the mortgage rate to a preferential level only from the moment when it is confirmed that funds have been credited to the escrow account in full, but the terms are not stipulated by law. Banks, in turn, do not have the opportunity to encourage borrowers to inform about the receipt of funds for escrow. The Association proposed to oblige recipients of preferential mortgages to inform banks in a timely manner about the replenishment of the escrow account.

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