Ukraine war unleash the hands of construction monopolists

The construction complex is on the offensive against the city and its citizens, pushing through the Verkhovna Rada bills that unleash the hands of construction monopolists, public organisation reports.

While citizens are defending Ukraine, openly discriminatory laws are being passed behind their backs.

One of these lobbying miracles is the Law on the Comprehensive Reconstruction of Quarters (Microdistricts) of Obsolete Housing No. 6458.

  The law completely copies Moscow’s policy on renovation, duplicating and proposing to introduce restrictions on private property rights in Ukraine, ignoring all European laws.

  Under the guise of the so-called comprehensive reconstruction, it is proposed to demolish areas of industrial housing, mostly 5-story buildings, and to build new buildings in these neighborhoods.

What is the point?

The developer-investor provides the owners of the demolished houses with apartments of the same size 

But by increasing the number of storeys and building density, a “markup” is formed, which is the developer’s profit

Such a scheme works under one condition: if there is a large difference between the price of new housing in certain “good” areas and the cost of this housing.

In pre-war Ukraine, this scheme worked only in Kyiv. To implement it 

Law No. 525-V of December 22, 2006, was passed, but it did not work. Residents who were supposed to be made happy by demolition did not want to be demolished and went to court.

The new law goes further and proposes a radical restriction of the rights of owners.

 The Constitution, which proclaims the equality of all forms of ownership, is openly violated

The whole law is written for the sake of one paragraph – it is proposed to add words about comprehensive reconstruction as a social need that justifies the seizure of land plots, i.e. alienation of property for profit by commercial business structures.

  “Compulsory alienation of land plots for reasons of social need in the absence of the owners’ consent shall be carried out in court.”

At the same time, out-of-court reprisals are proposed, such as quick courts and special court practice.

This law will not reconstruct neighborhoods with the worst or most dilapidated buildings, but only those areas where apartments can be sold at a profit. 

Commissions of local authorities will now decide whether your own housing is outdated or not. The process of creating them is potentially corrupt, as was explicitly stated in the discussion of the law.

A “left-wing” commission can “legally” violate your rights as an owner by recognizing the house as obsolete or in disrepair

Whatever the condition of the house, its fate is decided solely by the owner or the community of owners

If the owner wants to, he or she can sell the apartment to an investor, and the investor can build a high-rise building in its place. 

But this procedure is not suitable, because the whole process will be unpredictable and complicated for the developer

Let’s see if there is anything real behind the promises to improve housing for residents of outdated apartments.

First of all, an apartment is not only the quality of the pipes or the height of the ceilings, but also the neighborhood in which it is located. And the neighborhood will become denser, with less greenery, more residents, and thus more cars and parking lots.

Secondly, behind the words complex reconstruction is the Soviet principle of relying on the authorities, who know better than the citizen what he needs and provide him with the necessary “complex.”

  Nothing complex can be good!

Only diverse and inclusive can be good. 

-When any neighborhood has a mix of different types of housing – apartment, individual, and blocked – of different prices for people of different incomes and different forms of ownership;

 – When there are enough natural areas in the neighborhood.

-When there are enough places to work in the neighborhood, i.e., work is within walking distance from the house.

-When the homeowner is able to choose the energy company. When the owner decides to bring a heating main to the house, install a house boiler room or heat with electricity, and put solar panels on the roof.

Ukraine, striving for Europe, is joining the provisions on reducing its carbon footprint.

  But the demolition, recycling, and especially the construction of new concrete housing leaves a huge carbon footprint.

  In Europe, everyone is talking about reusing existing buildings, modernizing them, and renovating them.

But deputies do not think about residents, citizens or nature, they have other corrupt interests.

Ukraine Front Lines

Tags: construction monopolists