Citizens' right to housing in the Russian Federation: nature, nature and content.
In Russian legislation, the concept of "home" is not fully disclosed, which in practice causes various disputes. The term "dwelling" usually means a special structure or premise specially designed for people's living: a dwelling house, apartment, room together with a corresponding auxiliary area (kitchen, corridor, bathroom, hallway, etc.), as well as various other objects of a dwelling house (elevator and elevator facilities, other engineering equipment).
The living quarters must meet certain requirements in order to act as such. However, the criteria for residential premises were not always clearly stated in the legislation, which in practice was the reason for numerous abuses.
The absence of the concept of residential premises in the legislation also contributed to such abuses. Thus, the Housing Code of the RSFSR of 1983 (hereinafter, the RSFSR Housing Code) there was no such concept.
Only Article 7 of the Housing Code of the RSFSR referred to the designation of residential houses of residential premises which were to be intended for permanent residence of citizens, as well as for use as official residential premises from the housing stock for temporary settlement, dormitories and other specialized residential premises in accordance with the established procedure.
However, as early as December 24, 1992, the Law of the Russian Federation No. 4218-1 "On the Fundamentals of the Federal Housing Policy" referred to its designation as permanent and temporary residence.
Eremichev I.A. and Strauning E.L. In their edition they give a brief definition of a dwelling, saying that it is a dwelling intended for living of citizens and meets the established sanitary, fire, urban planning and technical requirements.
In their turn, they continue, residential premises form the housing stock. The housing stock, in its turn, is understood as the aggregate of all residential premises, regardless of their form of ownership, including residential buildings, specialized houses, apartments, service residential premises and other premises in other buildings that are suitable for habitation.
First of all, residential premises belong to immovable property, which is characterized by a strong connection with the land and which cannot be moved without disproportionate damage to its purpose (Article 130 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
Secondly, this premise is isolated, i.e. it is individualized and separated in space as a dwelling house, apartment, room with a separate exit to the street, staircase or a common corridor.
This premise should be legally recognized by the authorized body only on condition of its compliance with normative sanitary, technical and other requirements, for example, fire, environmental, etc.
Having understood a question, what is a dwelling premise, and having given it legal definition, we will pass to a question on the right to a dwelling of citizens of the Russian Federation.
Article 40 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation defines the right to housing in a different way in comparison with how it was formulated in the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978.
This includes, in particular, the provision of housing for servicemen, persons who have suffered as a result of emergency situations, participants in the Great Patriotic War and persons of equivalent status, disabled persons and certain other categories of citizens.
Thus, the Constitution of the Russian Federation has renounced the planned distribution system of provision of residential premises and the monopoly in this matter of state, municipal and public housing funds.
The right of citizens to housing is also enshrined in the constitutional laws of individual constituent entities of the Russian Federation (for example, the Constitution of the Republic of Bashkortostan).
How should the essence and content of the phrase "everyone has the right to housing" be interpreted? First of all, it is restrictive, excluding the "real possibility" from its content. Indeed, in recent times, the legal literature has been quite restrained (without loud phrases and epithets) about the meaning of this expression.
We will highlight the main points of view and statements.
First of all, the constitutional right to housing continues to be reduced to a state-guaranteed right to housing. Thus, V.R. Skripko notes: "The constitutional right to housing means that every citizen is guaranteed the opportunity to be provided with permanent housing.
This right presupposes the legal possibility of stable use of a citizen's dwelling space, its inviolability, as well as the possibility of improving living conditions by acquiring another one.
Secondly, the State guarantees every citizen the possibility to use the housing that he or she has, and the State assumes the obligation to facilitate the provision of housing for every citizen.
S.M.Korneev, while reasonably singling out two principal provisions, draws attention to the fact that "the essence of the right to housing remains unclear. Neither the Constitution nor individual laws disclose the right to housing.
Third, the statements that reduce this right to three legal possibilities:
- stable, sustainable, permanent use of residential premises;
- assistance of the state in improving housing conditions.
Thus, the Constitution of the Russian Federation has created a constitutional framework for the stable use of available housing, while at the same time making it possible to obtain another dwelling in order to improve the housing conditions.
By its legal nature, the constitutional right to housing is a State and legal institution; at the same time, the constitutional provisions on the right to housing (article 40 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, etc.) are the legal basis for the development and improvement of housing legislation, the entire system of housing relations, the use of residential premises, the conclusion of transactions and other legally significant actions with residential premises, the organization of management and preservation of the housing stock.
The Constitution of the Russian Federation means both forms of residence: permanent residence (the place where the citizen permanently resides) and preferential residence (the place where the citizen lives more than in other places). In both cases, the citizen has the right to have his or her own home.
Therefore, the exact determination of a citizen's place of residence is important for the protection of his rights and performance of his duties.
The exercise of the right to housing is ensured by the possibility for citizens to move freely and to choose their place of residence (art. 27, para. 1, of the Constitution).
The right of citizens to housing is thus enshrined in law at both the federal and regional levels. We have analyzed the nature and essence of this right and fully understood what this right means and what aspects it includes. Namely, that the right to housing means the possibility to have housing and includes the obligation of state and municipal authorities not to allow such a possibility to be derogated from.