The authorities are preparing a new housing and communal services reform: they wanted to reduce the threshold for housing subsidies

The rise in utility tariffs worries not only ordinary Russians, but also State Duma deputies. Thus, in order to receive a subsidy for housing and communal services, they propose to reduce the maximum allowable share of total family expenses. For single pensioners, large families and some other categories from 22% to 10, and for others – up to 15%.

Today, getting a subsidy for utilities is a whole story. Firstly, you need to meet certain parameters regarding property and income, which are different in each region. For example, in Moscow, one person should have no more than 33 square meters of housing, two – 42, and if three or more, then 18 square meters each. If these figures are higher, then you will most likely be denied a subsidy.

The subsidies themselves are calculated using a complex formula. The number of family members, total income (including benefits, for example, for children), the level of the cost of living in the region, the standard of cost of housing and communal services in a given subject of the Federation, and even whether it is necessary to pay for major repairs are taken into account…

Based on this data, those who submitted the application are assigned a subsidy. It can cover 100% of the payment for utilities or some specific part of it.

Probably because the formula is so complex, the number of subsidy recipients in the country is not very large. …

It is believed that the main obstacle to this benefit is debts for paying utility bills: first they need to be eliminated, and only then write an application to the social security authorities. Then there are difficulties with collecting documents, traveling from home to social security offices in remote regions of the country. Finally, not everyone knows that such a benefit is generally provided for by our legislation.

In short, the parliamentary initiative is quite relevant. According to Rosstat, the amount of debt for utilities last year increased by 8.7% and reached 833.5 billion rubles. A little more, and non-payments will exceed a trillion…

Today, the federal standard for receiving subsidies is set at 22% of total family income. In most regions, this threshold is taken as a basis. Moreover, the further the region is from Moscow and the lower the income of the population there, the correspondingly higher the threshold for receiving a subsidy. .

Although there are pleasant exceptions. For example, in Moscow it is 10%. That is, if 10th of the family income is spent on paying for utilities, apartment owners have the right to count on state support.

About a year ago, the initiative to lower the threshold for subsidies was already discussed within the parliament, but then it was not supported by the majority of deputies. Will this bill be approved this time?

An expert in the field of housing and communal services, an analyst at the ONF “Housing and Urban Environment” thematic platform Pavel Sklyanchuk says that in Russia there are about 4 million recipients of utility subsidies.

“These are those whose monthly income is not enough to pay for services in full,” he continues. – Not all Russians know that they have the right to such a benefit. For example, if a person has a pension of 10 thousand rubles, and he receives a receipt for 5-6 thousand, then from his own funds he will pay 2.2 thousand rubles, these same 22%. And everything from above will be returned to him by the state…

– Deputies propose reducing the threshold from 22 to 15%. In your opinion, is this real? Will the authorities take such a step?

– As an additional measure to support the population, federal legislation already allows regions to set different thresholds for receiving subsidies. For example, in the Tyumen region, for citizens with a subsistence level income, utility bills are reimbursed in full, 100%. In my opinion, attempts to reduce the discussion to the fact that at the federal level they are not lowering the standard from 22 to 15% is a substitution of concepts. The issue can be resolved by regional deputies.

– In addition to subsidies, are there any other benefits in the housing and communal services system?

– Discounts are established for veterans of the Great Patriotic War, liquidators of the Chernobyl accident, and a number of other preferential categories – in the amount of 25 or 50% of the payment amount. Not everyone knows about this either. Like subsidies, these discounts are provided on an application basis.

– Are subsidies and discounts different benefits?

– You pay the subsidies in full, and then, after the fact, part or 100% of the funds are returned to you. And discounts are immediately indicated on the payment receipt.

…Most likely, the next parliamentary initiative to ease the utility burden of Russians will fail. According to the expert, the regions themselves are given the right to regulate the threshold for issuing subsidies. It is possible that legislators will transfer the “shooters” to the regions. But the problem is that not all subjects of the Federation (it is from their treasuries that compensation is paid) have such a financial opportunity.