31.01.2017

The Ministry of Economic Development is putting together amendments to Russia’s Housing and Civil Codes that would allow SONGOs to use private residential homes as a place for providing social services, reports Izvestia. According to the Ministry, “Their adoption would enable SONGOs to provide public services and reduce the costs of accessing those services which are either too expensive or not available at all on the market”.

The Ministry proposes to allow SONGOs to operate in residential homes without having to turn living accommodation into office space. If approved, the amendments would mean SONGOs would have the right to only operate in private residential homes, which should limit the use by organisations of other types of accommodation, in particular multi-family flats. Such a proposal should not infringe the rights and lawful interests of other citizens. Accommodation must comply with standards that apply to residential premises and only used by people who have the legal right to live there.

The Ministry’s proposal has the support of Yana Lantratova, a member of the Presidential Council on Civil Society and Human Rights. “The most important thing to stress is that there should be an established system of public scrutiny of organisations that operate in private residential accommodation”, she said.

Source: https://www.asi.org.ru/news/2017/01/31/so-nko-mogut-razreshit-vesti-deyatelnost-v-zhilyh-domah/