Rooms in apartments are in demand: their cost has increased by 10% in a year

Unlike the classic communal apartments of the Soviet era, the rooms in the apartments are owned by two or three owners. However, be that as it may, living with strangers under one roof is not much fun. Nevertheless, the rooms are still being sold, and quite successfully. Over the year, they have increased in price by almost 10%, say experts from the company Mir Kvartir.

Who buys rooms and why – for living, registration, renting out? We asked these questions to experts.

In Moscow, for example, rooms are sold for an average of 4.6 million rubles (17.5% more than in 2024), in the region - for 1.8 million (plus 5.7%), in St. Petersburg - for 2.8 million rubles (plus 9.5%), in Sochi - for 3.5 million (plus 2.2%), in Vladivostok - for 2.6 million (plus 14.2%).

The record holders, albeit conditional, were Magnitogorsk (plus 62%, 850 thousand rubles per room) and Makhachkala (plus 49.8%, 187 thousand).

The situation with the growth of prices for rooms in the current conditions of a protracted period of high rates on market mortgages is entirely expected, says Sergei Chuzhakov, director of the legal department of the federal company Etazhi:

- People who cannot afford full-fledged housing and are not ready to wait for rates to drop buy rooms. It is clear that demand in this segment is concentrated on the most budget options, so the growth of average prices is not surprising: people buy up the most affordable options. They buy rooms both for their own use and for renting out, often as temporary housing for students.

A room in a communal apartment is the cheapest housing option on the real estate market, says Irina Dobrokhotova, founder of BEST-Novostroy and bnMAP.pro. Most often, room buyers are people with a limited budget. These are often options, for example, for visitors who do not need (with rare visits) or have no opportunity to buy a separate apartment.

- Rooms are mostly bought by people after a divorce. But there are also those who buy them to rent them out, - continues Irina Dobrokhotova. - Most buyers have a very limited budget, but at the same time they want to "park" it in real estate and have no desire or opportunity to take out a mortgage, especially at current rates. It happens that such housing is purchased for permanent registration.

To purchase a room, the buyer needs the usual documents. A room in a communal apartment is a separate object, it has a separate cadastral number. And the seller needs all the documents on the right of ownership, waivers from other owners of rooms in this apartment, but in general the purchase scheme is about the same as when buying any secondary real estate, says Sergey Chuzhakov.

It is possible to rent out a room. Some owners play it safe and get the consent of co-owners. The terms of the procedure for using the kitchen, bathroom (common areas) should be agreed upon with neighbors. It is better to fix the agreements in writing to avoid tension in relations. The rules for renting a room are standard, as when renting an apartment.

Selling rooms is a little more complicated, as you need to notify the other owners and wait one month or get their consent to sell in order to speed up the transaction.

- A request with the indicated price for the sale of the room is sent to the apartment owners in writing, - says Irina Dobrokhotova. - Russians have 30 days to respond from the moment of recorded receipt or refusal to receive such a notice. The request must be recorded; verbal consent will not do. The room can be sold at the same price as indicated in the notice, or more expensive.

Notifications can be financially burdensome if there are many owners living in the apartment. Legally, even if the neighbors are against the sale, they cannot prohibit the transaction, but simply have the right of priority purchase.

Do ex-spouses often sell rooms?

- As a rule, spouses prefer to negotiate. Either one buys out the share of the other, or the apartment is sold in full and the money is divided in half, - says Irina Dobrokhotova. - After all, it is quite difficult and unprofitable to turn a small apartment into a communal apartment. If any insurmountable difficulties arise, the issue is resolved in court.