The ZSNO Committee supported the mechanism for recognizing an apartment as vacant.

      19 November 2025 18:11 Society NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" - Sergey Bishletov

      At a meeting of the Committee on Housing and Communal Services and the Fuel and Energy Complex of the Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, deputies approved an initiative aimed at streamlining the status of non-residential premises in apartment buildings. The discussion concerned support for federal bill No. 1026245-8, which proposes to introduce a procedure for recognizing a residential unit as vacant.

      According to the explanatory note to the document, it is proposed to establish a mechanism similar to that applied when an apartment building is declared unsafe and subject to demolition or reconstruction. This would give municipalities the right to officially record the absence of occupants and, if necessary, take measures to manage such premises.

      The decision to recognize an apartment as vacant will be made by a special commission formed by the local self-government body. For this, compliance with at least two of the following criteria is required:

      - arrears on utility payments for more than one year;

      - property tax debts and accrued penalties for two or more tax periods;

      - no changes in electricity and water meter readings for more than one year;

      - visual signs of prolonged absence of occupants: broken windows, lack of heating appliances, a faulty front door, etc.

      As noted by the chairman of the relevant committee, Vladimir Bespalov, the problem is especially acute in the northern districts of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, where there are cases when only individual apartments remain occupied in houses.

      He cited an example from the village of Kuzmiyar, where in a two-story wooden house of five apartments only two are inhabited. The rest are abandoned, with broken windowpanes, and residents are forced to insulate the walls themselves to avoid freezing.

      Deputy Nikolai Upirvitsky stressed that such premises not only spoil the appearance of buildings but also create inconveniences for neighbors. He urged management companies to become more active in addressing this problem, using all available tools.

      At the same time, parliamentarians drew attention to the insufficient elaboration of the bill. In particular, the text spells out consequences for tenants but lacks direct references to articles of the Housing Code that would define the procedure for seizing vacant premises from owners.

      At the moment the bill is under consideration in the State Duma of Russia.

      Earlier it was reported that Nizhny Novgorod Oblast received an additional 1.9 billion rubles for implementing a program to relocate people from unsafe housing.

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