The State Duma approved a bill allowing the return of hostels to residential buildings

Some deputies opposed this decision

The worst dream of any high-rise building resident – a hostel nearby – can become a reality again. Less than two years after hotels in residential buildings were banned, they could again be legalized under the guise of “short-term residential rentals.”

Amendments to the Housing Code allowing this type of rental in apartment buildings were adopted by the State Duma in the first reading today. The bill was introduced by the Ministry of Construction at the request of the Constitutional Court. Deputy Galina Khovanskaya (SRZP faction) called the initiative lobbying and said that she knows who “pushed” the amendments through the Constitutional Court. But she refused to name specific names from the podium, promising her colleagues in the chamber to tell the whole truth in a private conversation.

A lot of complaints arose about the bill right from the start. The main one is that short-term hiring will be tantamount to the return of hostels. This was stated again by Khovanskaya, co-author of the law banning hotels in residential buildings. Deputy Oksana Dmitrieva indicated that there would be problems with how to distinguish rental from the hotel business.

A number of parliamentarians were outraged about respect for the rights of neighbors and the issue of security. Galina Khovanskaya noted that the situation is stalemate: the amendments were initiated by the Constitutional Court, and even the president cannot go against it. So the only way out, according to Khovanskaya, is to contact the Constitutional Court for clarification.

Deputy Alexei Kurinny (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) proposed a compromise option: accept the amendments in the first reading, and then slowly “forget” about them. Otherwise, apartment owners will have a hard time, the communist is sure:

– Go and prove that they are noisy (tenants – MK’s note), that they are hooligans, that they live without registration. And even if you prove it, you still won’t be able to stop anything,” said Kurinny and added that it’s better not to even open this Pandora’s box. Therefore, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation will not vote for the amendments, he emphasized.

The LDPR and SRZP also promised to boycott the initiative. Apparently, they kept their word: out of 373 Duma members who took part in the vote, 57 people pressed the “no” button and 23 abstained. But this did not help: with 293 votes in favor, the amendments passed the first reading.