OREANDA-NEWS. On January 21, 2007 at meeting held by the President, which focused on the situation on the market of participatory construction of residential housing, Alexander Lukashenko gave instructions to finalise, by 1 February 2008, the draft Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus “On Some Issues of Participatory Construction” and submit it to the Head of State for singing, reported the Official website http://president.gov.by.

The system-based work in the field of participatory construction of residential housing began in Belarus in 1998. However, the lack of comprehensive legislation in this field has led to discrepancies in approaches utilised by regional authorities and building companies, and, as a result, to jeopardising the interests of the citizens-customers who take part in the participatory construction projects. For example, construction time-limits were often broken; the price of such housing used to be considerably increased in the course of construction. The quality of the housing also provoked complains.

In this respect, the necessity arose to improve the relevant legislation. Experts working for the Government and the Presidential Administration developed a range of measures to regulate the legal relationships between the builders and the citizens-customers of such housing, the measures being aimed, first and foremost, at protecting the rights of the citizens-customers. In June 2006, the President signed Decree No. 396 “On Participatory Construction of Many-Apartment Residential Houses” which introduced rigid rules in this sphere, including one rule on keeping the price of housing intact in the course of construction.

But in reality, the toughening of the rules on the participatory construction market resulted in building companies’ losing their interest in this business: even objective reasons notwithstanding (like increasing prices for construction materials), they had no right to adjust the housing prices. As a result, participatory construction nearly came to a halt, triggering an increase in prices for previously-owned housing. Therefore, it was necessary to attend to some issues related to participatory construction at the presidential level.

According to the Head of State, these are the Government and the Presidential Administration who are to blame for the present situation, as they have failed to foresee all the consequences of the measures proposed previously.

“It’s clear that housing construction will long remain a priority in Belarus. It is not only the solution of the citizens’ main problem, but also a good locomotive for economic growth,” the President said.

Today there is a need to step up housing construction, including by means of citizens’ savings. It’s necessary to enable building companies to enhance and improve their material and technological basis, step up their capacities. Builders should have some margin in adjusting housing prices, the right to adjust the prices depending on inflation parameters, the President said. Relevant adjustments should be introduced into effective legal documents in this field, Alexander Lukashenko said.