Privatization of housing is one of the most important rights of a citizen of the Russian Federation, granted by the state in order to meet the need for housing. However, it is worth remembering that there are limited time frames for exercising this right.
The general procedure for the implementation of privatization in the Russian Federation is determined by the Federal Law No. 1541-1 of July 4, 1991 "On the privatization of the housing stock". The specified normative legal act establishes that privatization is a free transfer to citizens of the Russian Federation of the housing they occupy on the basis of property rights.
The right to free privatization
Article 2 of Federal Law No. 1541-1 of July 4, 1991 "On the privatization of the housing stock" establishes the right to free privatization for citizens of the Russian Federation who use residential premises on the basis of social tenancy agreements. Both adults and minors can become owners of housing if certain conditions are met. At the same time, the specified section of this regulatory legal act, like its other sections, does not contain references to the timing of the exercise of such a right. The terms of free privatization of housing occupied by citizens of the Russian Federation are determined by additional normative legal acts establishing the validity period of Article 2 of the said law.
It was originally planned that the free privatization of housing will be carried out in our country until January 1, 2007. However, when this deadline came, it turned out that many citizens who had the right to it did not have time to implement it, so the deadline for completing the procedure was postponed. Since then, the date for the completion of free privatization in the Russian Federation has been repeatedly postponed.
Terms of housing privatization
Currently, the document establishing the deadline for the completion of free privatization in Russia is Federal Law No. 189-FZ of December 29, 2004 "On the Enactment of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation", taking into account all the latest revisions adopted. Clause 1 of Article 2 of the said normative legal act establishes that the aforementioned article 2 of Federal Law No. 1541-1 of July 4, 1991 "On the privatization of the housing stock", which establishes the right of citizens of the Russian Federation, shall cease to be effective from March 1, 2015. Thus, at present, this very date is considered the planned completion of the period of free privatization in Russia. Taking into account the previous experience of lawmaking, we can assume the possibility of another revision of these terms. However, it should be borne in mind that such a revision may not take place, and therefore those who wish to exercise their right to free privatization of housing should hurry up with its implementation.
