The residential and commercial real estate market is incredibly vast. Offering housing, realtors often call an apartment an apartment. This term becomes a kind of symbol of success, luxury, independence and wealth.
But are these concepts the same - apartment and apartment? Even the most superficial glance will determine that these are completely different things. Consider the difference between apartments and apartments. Let us determine how significant these differences are, and why we should clearly distinguish these concepts.
What is an apartment?
The following definition is generally accepted. An apartment is a type of detached real estate used both for permanent residence and for renting. It has a separate entrance and is fully adapted for a normal life: there are all necessary communications, heating, water supply, sewage. The apartments are not the same, they differ from each other in a different location in the city, area, type of structure of a residential building, its number of storeys and many other parameters. But, despite all the differences, apartments make up one specific segment - residential real estate, or housing stock.
There are enough offers for the sale of apartments on the domestic real estate market: these are apartments in new buildings and secondary housing. Apartments for sale can be perfectly renovated, but are usually not furnished.
Apartments: what is it
Apartments equipped with modern communications, excellent furniture and located in hotel complexes are called apartments. This is an elite type of luxury rental property used for temporary residence of wealthy guests. The main characteristics of such an object are a modern stylish design and full security of household and technical communications. Accommodation in apartments is possible only on a temporary basis.
In other words, an apartment is a non-permanent housing identical to a hotel room. And like in a classic hotel room, an indispensable attribute of living in it is a full service at a convenient time for guests, including the whole range of cleaning, linen replacement, parking lots, specialized security services, beauty salons and other infrastructure.
This type of real estate is very popular in resort areas and cities. Wealthy citizens often buy apartments in the immediate vicinity of work for reasons of time saving. Comfortable complexes, the so-called apart-hotels, are being built in sufficient proximity to the sea or the business center of the city.
Various types of apartments are offered to the potential buyer, the most common of them are one-bedroom apartments and western “studio” options, in which the living room is combined with the kitchen. However, the market sells apartments with 2 and 3 bedrooms, as well as multi-level premises. The difference between the apartments and the apartment is that the buyer of the apartments acquires a living room with modern renovation, stylish furniture and built-in appliances.
Legal status of apartments
In the Russian legislation the concept of “apartments” is not fixed, at the same time, the term “residential premises” is given a rather broad definition. It recognizes a separate room as part of real estate, suitable for permanent residence and complying with the established standards of sanitary, technical and other operational rules. The legislation provides for the following types of premises as residential: a house or part thereof, an apartment or a share in it, a room. The term “apartment” does not apply to the residential real estate segment. In other words, to the question about the apartment: what is it, one can answer that it is a residential building in a non-residential building.
Differences between apartments and apartments
So, the apartments are not related to the housing stock, so you can create them in buildings of any orientation, for example, office. To place the status of "apartment" belonging to the housing stock is required. In addition, there are differences in these concepts in other planes:
- according to the requirements of the Gosstandart resolution, the area of apartments should not be less than 40 m 2 , and the number of rooms - 2 or more, the presence of a bathroom and kitchen is considered mandatory;
- such requirements are not presented to an apartment in which there may be only one room with a significantly smaller area.
We consider in more detail each difference between apartments and apartments.
Cost
Real estate market experts note that the price of apartments is usually lower than the cost of an apartment of a similar type by 10-15%, but operating costs are always higher. This is due to the fact that the cost of utilities for apartment owners is significantly higher than their cost for owners of residential real estate. In particular, heating services are higher by 20-30%, water supply and sanitation - by 12-25%. The presented figures are ambiguous, prices for housing and communal services depend not only on the regional location, but also on the nature of the connection of utilities with the networks of resource-supplying organizations. For example, if services are delivered through intermediaries, then you will have to pay even more for them.
The absence of the concept of “apartments” as part of residential real estate does not allow their owners to issue subsidies for utility bills, provided that their total monthly income for the past 6 months does not exceed the established standards. Apartment owners cannot take advantage of the benefits regulated by the Housing Code. What is the difference between apartments and apartments, except for cost characteristics?
Registration Features
The purchase of an apartment implies the possibility of permanent registration at the address of the housing. It is not possible to register in apartments at the place of residence due to the fact that they are not legally housing.
The question of the possibility of temporary registration in apartments is still unclear, although there is no direct prohibition on the exercise of this right by owners of apartments purchased in buildings with the status of an apart-hotel or hotel.
Lack of objects of social significance
When deciding which acquisition is more profitable - an apartment or an apartment, it should be remembered that the developer of such buildings is not liable for the construction of social infrastructure. Actually, this factor explains the relative cheapness of apartments - the developer of hotel complexes, as a rule, does not build schools, kindergartens and clinics.
Despite the fact that realtors usually do not raise this problem or are smoothed by the assurances that the development of apart-hotels is carried out in areas with well-established infrastructure, do not forget about it. In megacities, the volumes of construction and sale of such complexes are very significant, and social facilities of not every district can provide an increase in unregistered users.
The management of the city planning department of Moscow plans to approve building codes that oblige the developer to build infrastructure facilities in parallel with the construction of hotel complexes. Most likely, the introduction of such obligations will raise the cost of apartments to the price of apartments.
Permission to redevelop apartments is not required
What is the difference between apartments and apartments yet? The fact that the need or the possibility of redevelopment of these premises is regulated by the general provisions of the Town Planning Code, according to which permission is not required if the proposed changes do not bring constructive changes and do not change the level of reliability and safety of the non-residential building. And if the lack of permits greatly simplifies the implementation of conversions in the premises of the apartments, then there are many problems in the organizational features of the functioning of such buildings.
Difficulties in managing non-residential buildings and the difference in property tax
According to the Housing Code, the technical premises of an apartment building (attics, basements, etc.) are jointly owned by the owners of residential premises. For apartments such a norm is not provided. Therefore, the buyer who purchases them must remember that the property right to the rest of the building and utilities is with the developer, and he can impose on the owners the services of a management company that is beneficial to him.
In addition, property tax, which will now be calculated on the basis of the cadastral value , has been significantly increased by the adopted legislation since 2015 . And if the housing tax rate is 0.1% and quite impressive benefits are applied, then non-residential real estate, which includes apartments, is taxed at a much higher rate.
Nature of acquisition
The difference between apartments and apartments is manifested in order to purchase. The purchase of apartments, as a rule, is of an investment nature, that is, in most cases they are bought for profit, while the purchase of an apartment has a pronounced social background - accommodation.
If the owner of the apartment is registered as an individual entrepreneur and declares income from the rental of property, he does not have the right to exemption from taxes on the sale of these premises, even if they have been owned for more than 3 years.
Realizing the differences, it is easier for a potential buyer to decide which room suits him best - an apartment or an apartment. What is best for him and the goals he pursues, only he knows. The status of the purchased property depends on the nature of the acquisition, opportunities, necessity or other conditions. Now, thinking about a future acquisition, you can clearly imagine how the apartments differ from the apartment.