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- Starting from January 1, the moratorium on fines for developers is lifted: what does this mean for shareholders and the housing market
Starting from January 1, the moratorium on fines for developers is lifted: what does this mean for shareholders and the housing market
The moratorium on fines for developers for delaying the commissioning of housing will cease to apply from 2026, while the authorities promise to introduce an installment mechanism for developers to pay penalties. Experts positively assess the lifting of the ban, but they do not rule out an increase in prices for new buildings and believe that developers will increase the construction time. About what will change in the real estate market after the lifting of the moratorium and how shareholders will be fined next year for postponing the commissioning of apartments is in the Izvestia article.
What is known about the lifting of the moratorium
Starting in 2026, there will be no moratorium on fines for developers for postponing housing deadlines. This means that shareholders will be able to receive a penalty if the developer delayed the commissioning of the house. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, there are 132 thousand such borrowers in Russia.
"When the rate was high, we understood that the developers could not complete the construction in these terms. Therefore, we have given regulatory relief to postpone deadlines without penalties. But now we see that the number of such projects has increased to 19%. This is 132 thousand borrowers. Therefore, we have decided in the government that we will no longer extend this rule," Khusnullin said in November.
At the same time, as Nikita Stasishin, deputy head of the Ministry of Construction, previously stated, after the lifting of the moratorium, "a tool may appear for developers that allows them to apply installments on fines and penalties for three years."
In the three quarters of 2025, the share of apartments being rented on time in Russia reached 42%, according to the data from the Unified Resource of Developers (ERZ.RF). Compared to the same period in 2024, the indicator increased by 7 percentage points. In the first quarter of 2025, the share of such housing was 48.4%, the highest in the last four years.
What will change in the housing market
The moratorium has been introduced three times in the last five years. The first was in April 2020, during the pandemic. The measure was lifted in January 2021. The next moratorium was established after the imposition of sanctions on Russia — in March 2022, and was in effect until June 2023. The third moratorium was introduced in March 2024, and its validity period is until the end of 2025. Anna Murmuridis, Director of Business Development at the Nikoliers Department of Residential Real Estate and Land Development, believes that the moratorium is unlikely to be introduced again in the near future.
— Formally, the moratorium can be introduced again, since this is not a rule of law, but a temporary anti-crisis measure of the government. However, the authorities have already publicly stated that they do not plan to extend it in 2026, and they have also taken a course to return the full responsibility of developers for disrupting housing commissioning, Murmuridis tells Izvestia.
According to her, the lifting of the moratorium is likely to lead to an increase in litigation and a financial burden on developers. For some companies, this will create a risk of cash gaps, but for shareholders it will return a full-fledged lever of pressure and increase the value of the "deadline" as a real, rather than declarative guideline.
Andrey Solovyov, partner of NF Group, in a conversation with Izvestia, notes that the measure should increase the "discipline of developers" and the level of protection of shareholders. However, the lifting of the moratorium will increase the financial burden on the market, so Solovyov does not exclude an increase in prices for new buildings in the mass segment. Nevertheless, the expert believes that the discussed mechanism of installment payment of fines may partially mitigate the effect.
— Developers are interested in timely delivery of facilities for the earliest possible disclosure of escrow accounts. After lifting the moratorium, developers can begin to increase the construction time in order to minimize the risks of fines. This will lead to a longer construction of facilities and an increase in their final cost by including possible fines," the founder of BEST—Novostroy tells Izvestia and bnMAP.pro Irina Dobrokhotova.
The expert believes that the measure may cause a surge in "consumer terrorism", and this will negatively affect construction.
What will change for shareholders after the lifting of the moratorium
After the moratorium is lifted, shareholders may receive a penalty if the developer violated the terms of the apartment transfer. At the same time, it is still unclear how the new installment mechanism for fines will work. The procedure for providing installments for fines and penalties has not been posted at the moment, but it is unlikely that it will be in the interests of the construction participants, said Maria Spiridonova, Managing partner of Leges Bureau, a member of the Russian Bar Association.
— What exactly the installment payment terms will be for developers has not yet been established by regulations. We will wait for a law or a government decree. How will this affect the shareholders? It is impossible to say unequivocally. The disadvantage is that you won't be able to get the entire amount at once," Maria Bezruchenkova, a lawyer and expert at the Union of Bloggers and Lawyers, tells Izvestia.
How can shareholders get money from developers
To receive funds, you need to send a claim to the developer. According to Maria Rulkova, a lawyer at the Moscow Knyazev and Partners Bar Association, the claim must contain the data of the parties, information about the contract, including the date of conclusion and the address of the facility, a clear justification for the amount of the required penalty and the deadline for its voluntary payment.
— The claim is sent to the developer in two copies, preferably by registered mail with a delivery notification, or delivered personally against signature to fix the start date of the response period. The legislation establishes the obligation for the developer to review the received claim and provide a response within 30 days, explains Rulkova to Izvestia.
According to Part 6 of Article 13 of the law "On participation in shared-equity construction ...", the developer is obliged to pay the shareholder a penalty for each day of violation of the deadline set by the contract for the delivery of the house, recalls Rulkova. The penalty itself is calculated at 1/300 of the key rate of the Bank of Russia from the contract price for each day of delay, while for individuals the amount of the penalty is considered to be double and is 1/150, says Bezruchenkova. However, this does not apply to unique facilities, where there is a restriction on collecting no more than 5% of the contract price, adds Spiridonova. According to her, the developer will be exempt from payment if the shareholder evades signing the transfer act.
So, in general cases, the amount of penalties depends on the cost of the apartment, the number of days overdue and the key rate. If the apartment costs 15 million rubles, and the key rate is 16%, then the developer will be required to pay about 3 million rubles in six months.
If the developer refuses the shareholder, you need to go to court. As noted by Spiridonova, developers rarely voluntarily satisfy the requirements of the consumer, as a rule, the transfer of funds occurs at the stage of execution of the judicial act. The judicial process to recover a penalty from a developer lasts on average 3-4 months in one court instance, but if the court's decision is appealed by the shareholder or developer, the process will take about 5-6 months, taking into account the consideration of the case in the court of appeal, adds Rulkova.
— What else can a buyer of an apartment get money for? This is compensation for moral damage — from practice, no more than 10 thousand rubles are collected, legal expenses — basically the amount is 35-50 thousand rubles. An equity holder may also demand a refund of rental expenses if they had to rent an apartment due to a delay in delivery, compensation for substandard construction - the cost of eliminating defects or reducing the price of the contract, says Bezruchenkova.
The algorithm for collecting a fine looks like this, Bezruchenkova notes
1. Calculate the delay. The first day of delay is the day following the date specified in the DDU.
2. We prepare and send the claim to the developer by registered mail with a notification to his legal address. In the claim, we specify: the details of the contract, the terms of the transfer of the apartment, the calculation of the penalty and the claim for its payment, the claim for compensation for moral damage and legal expenses, if they have already been incurred.
3. If the developer refused or did not respond within 30 days, you can go to court.
4. We are filing a claim with the district court at the location of the developer or facility. We attach a copy of the DDU to the claim, the calculation of the penalty, evidence of sending the claim, and the response.
At the same time, the procedure for refunding funds upon termination of mortgage housing transactions has its own specifics, adds Rulkova.
— The refund of the paid funds deposited in the escrow account is possible only after official approval with the financial institution. The final stage of making a refund is the state registration of termination of obligations in Rosreestr, since without repayment of the registration record of the DDU, the bank does not initiate the transfer of funds from the escrow account," the expert explains.
In addition, if the developer is overdue for the delivery of the apartment for more than two months, the shareholder has the right to unilaterally cancel the lease.
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