Vitaly Mutko said that over the past year the DOM.RF development institution has become almost a full-cycle company for the housing sector. Its activities include putting land into circulation, attracting investment, and supporting mortgage loans. The company is implementing infrastructure projects and systemic measures, such as the industry’s digitalisation, support and issuance of infrastructure and mortgage bonds. Over the past year, the assets of all companies have grown and amounted to about 3 trillion rubles, about 1.5 trillion of which is already working in the economy.
The main area is the social sphere. This includes the support of demand and mortgages. Since 2018, DOM.RF has acted as the operator of all mortgage programmes with state support, and about two million people have improved their living conditions. Last year, 46 percent of mortgage loans issued were state-supported. The family mortgage continues to work and has picked up pace.
Vitaly Mutko noted that the structure of housing under construction in Russia did not correspond to the family structure in Russia: 53 percent of the completed housing are studio and small-sized apartments, while the number of families with two or more children is under 50 percent. He believes the Government should consider measures to encourage the purchase of larger apartments.
Vitaly Mutko said that the construction of single-family homes is growing, and in line with the Presidential instructions, the Government extended preferential mortgages for single-family homes. Over the past year, the number of mortgages for the construction of single-family homes has almost tripled, and 33,000 mortgage loans were taken out to build a house. So far, every tenth house is being built with mortgage support, but, according to Mr Mutko, it is possible to improve this figure within three to five years so that every second house is built this way. A digital service has been developed that makes it possible to choose a mortgage and a land plot.
The DOM.RF CEO also said that the company was involved in developing land plots. In the past few years, 20,000 hectares of loss-making land plots have been approved for development, and territorial layout plans are in the making.
Replying to the President’s question about prospects for allotting land plots to families with children, Vitaly Mutko noted the importance of a law on comprehensive territorial development. DOM.RF has started addressing these objectives. Specialists draft territorial layout plans and connect the land plots to utilities networks, while allotting land plots to families with many children for private housing construction. A mechanism of infrastructure bonds has emerged. According to Vitaly Mutko, 25 projects worth 115 billion rubles are currently being implemented, and the corporate portfolio now includes about 50 such applications worth 300 billion rubles.
The Government has instructed DOM.RF to build housing in addition to utilising land plots. In all, by 2030, 100 million square metres of housing will be built on land plots due to be utilised by DOM.RF. Seven million square metres were completed last year, and there are plans to build 15 million square metres in 2023. The company has mastered competencies linked with the development of master plans and comprehensive development projects. In all, experts have compiled 36 master plans for 11 cities in the Far East.
Vitaly Mutko also noted that, following the conversion to project funding in 2019, 98 million square metres of housing were now under construction. Of this amount, 90 percent are built under project funding plans using escrow accounts. A mature market has been established, and a competitive environment for banks.
Vitaly Mutko also discussed the sector’s digitalisation. DOM.RF is becoming a backbone institution in this context. A housing construction data exchange network has been established, making it possible to monitor the pace of construction online. Work is now underway to convert the sector to Building Information Modeling (BIM) patterns. A digital academy has been set up.
The discussion also covered the secondary housing market, the creation of favourable conditions for purchasing flats on the secondary market under easy-term plans and the introduction of green standards. The first such standard has been introduced for blocks of flats.
In addition, Vitaly Mutko reported on the fulfilment of the President’s instruction to build rental housing, specifically, 10,000 flats, in the Far East. DOM.RF serves as project operator. The company and the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic have selected the first regions. Sixteen projects, including lease contracts for corporate clients, students and other people, are available. Work is now underway in the Far East. They are implementing the first projects in Sakhalin, the Khabarovsk Territory, Vladivostok and Magadan.