The bills amend effective legislation on mortgage loans and registration of rights to real estate and transactions with property (specifically, the laws on land rent and state duty) as well as the Tax and the Budget Codes.
Among other things, the new bills envisage the introduction of competitive bidding procedures for developers interested in acquiring land plots to build on as well as of more relaxed agreement procedures.
They are aimed at lowering the administrative barriers and optimizing the system of taxation for housing market players.
The eight bills that have just gotten through the State Duma are part of a Cabinet-sponsored package on affordable housing schemes, providing for government subsidies to low-income families. The lawmakers have agreed that they will consider the remaining twenty bills from that package after their summer recess.
The Cabinet's new housing package is supported overwhelmingly only by the United Russia faction, which has been involved in its elaboration. Other State Duma factions seem less enthusiastic about the package.
