Guest house experiment approved in first reading despite opposition criticism

The State Duma on Thursday approved in the first reading a bill on conducting an experiment on the use of guest houses, which proposes to legalize the accommodation of vacationers in the private sector, for starters – in Crimea, Sevastopol and Kuban. The document developed by United Russia unexpectedly caused a flurry of criticism from the opposition: the Communist Party of the Russian Federation saw in it signs of “helplessness and powerlessness,” and the Liberal Democratic Party saw in it an attempt to redistribute property.

Accommodation of vacationers in the private sector of resort regions is a long-standing problem, project co-author Natalya Kostenko recalled: in the 1990s, renting out housing in the coastal zone became almost the only source of income for many families. The state ignored this circumstance for a long time, and local authorities quietly encouraged the legalization of such business. As a result, according to the Ministry of Economic Development, there are now about 15 thousand guest houses in these regions, that is, facilities that are located on plots intended for individual housing construction (IHC) and are used to accommodate tourists.

However, with the growth of domestic tourism, the demand for coastal areas increased, and people began to “have a nightmare,” Ms. Kostenko complained. According to her, in Gelendzhik over the past five years, municipalities have begun to en masse apply to the courts with claims to ban the operation of such facilities. Not only tourists and owners of guest houses suffer from the lack of regulation in this area, but also the industry as a whole: for example, in the Krasnodar Territory, guest houses account for a third of the total number of rooms, and to replace it with hotels, at the current pace of commissioning, it will take 30 years, not to mention the fact that this is the most accessible category for consumers, United Russia explained. Therefore, the authors of the initiative proposed introducing indicators by which a particular residential building can be recognized as a guest house, and prescribing a mechanism for their inclusion in the register.

The government generally supported the project, proposing to take into account the need to obtain the consent of the owners of neighboring premises and regulate issues of monitoring the owners’ compliance with the necessary requirements. The White House also believes that Dagestan, the Altai Republic and the Altai Territory can be included in the experiment.

The deputies had many more questions. “The fact that the state has failed to cope with import substitution in the tourism sector is beyond doubt, and, of course, legislative initiatives of this kind are needed,” said Nina Ostanina (Communist Party of the Russian Federation). “But how do you plan to circumvent the ban on accommodation in residential buildings established by the Housing Code?” hotel premises? In the project, she was worried, there is no mechanism for recognizing an individual residential building as a guest house, and it is also unclear who will monitor the quality of services and who will be called upon in case of violation of laws.

Now the deputies will vote for the “pig in a poke”, and then the fire department, Rospotrebnadzor and other inspection bodies will come to the person who has made his house a guest house, prophesied Sergei Leonov (LDPR). And Alexey Sitnikov (United Russia) lamented that, for example, premises in apartment buildings fall out of the scope of regulation. Perhaps the concept of “tourist accommodation” should be introduced, its criteria defined and the government invited to develop a national standard, establishing the level of required hospitality, the deputy reasoned.

The authors responded by honestly admitting that most of the regulation is left to the discretion of the government, which has already begun work on the relevant regulations. As for inspections, the emphasis is on a risk-oriented approach, explained MP from Sevastopol Tatyana Lobach, if there are no complaints, then inspections should not be carried out. But my colleagues did not appreciate such a liberal approach.

“How can you say that there will be no checks? — independent deputy Oksana Dmitrieva was perplexed. “15 rooms means up to 50 guests: what do they feed, what services are provided — no one controls?!” And the load on roads, recreational areas, parking – how will all this be solved, she asked, carefully pointing out that the project “seems not to be fully developed.”

Artem Prokofiev (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) was more categorical, saying that the real problem is “the lack of political will to control economic activity on its territory” and this “paralysis of will” is proposed to be legalized, which will be a signal for the entire country. “This is not only a law on the right to create a guest house of 1 thousand square meters. This is a law about depriving municipalities, as well as surrounding residents, of the rights,” the communist was indignant. Taking into account the previously introduced ban on hostels in residential buildings and the discussed ban on daily rental of apartments, there is no logical explanation why the same thing can be allowed on the lands of individual housing construction, Mr. Prokofiev insisted: “Demonstration of helplessness and throwing around power – what could be worse for planning economic activity ? If three regions need a solution, let them think about transferring land, adopt some programs, but the Communist Party faction does not support the initiative, the deputy concluded.

The Liberal Democrats followed the example of the Communists. “I thought for a long time why the bill was introduced,” admitted Sergei Leonov. “And then I realized: it’s just permission to build a hotel on the lands of private housing construction. We simply give those people who have money the right to buy land and build a hotel. That’s what this project is for, it’s not needed for anything else!” Therefore, the deputy is confident that the experiment will give rise to the redistribution of property in coastal areas.

However, with the help of the Duma majority represented by United Russia, the bill was nevertheless adopted in the first reading.

Anastasia Kornya