What is an emergency house and where you can move from it

An emergency home can be hazardous to health or even life. Together with the national project “ Housing and the Urban Environment ”, we tell you which building can be recognized as emergency and what options for solving the problem exist.

Which house is considered emergency

An emergency home is one that is unsafe to live in. The grounds for recognizing it as such may be different, including:

• air pollution around with harmful substances;
• the emergence of the risk of landslides, mudflows, avalanches;
• violation of sanitary and epidemiological requirements;
• a roll threatening the stability of the room;
• irreversible damage after an emergency;
• dangerous proximity to power lines.

But the most common reason is damage or deformation of the supporting structures , which can lead to the collapse of the house and which cannot be fixed by major repairs. There is no need to collect a combo or a complete set – one item from the list is enough. If the house is deemed to be in disrepair, it is subject to demolition or reconstruction.

But flying away plaster, a leaking roof or the absence of an elevator will not be a reason for recognizing housing as emergency. When the condition of the building is unsatisfactory, but does not pose a direct threat to the tenants, it is considered to require a major overhaul. In this case, the house is not resettled, but renovated. The age of the building does not indicate its accident rate either: even very old housing can be durable and safe.

Who conducts the examination and how

The application is considered by an interdepartmental commission within 30 days (or 10 days if the house has suffered from an emergency). After that, she can either immediately make a decision on recognizing the object as emergency, on the basis of the attached expert opinion, or start her own check. It includes the assessment of several safety indicators:

• condition of structures;
• fire resistance;
• air quality;
• compliance with sanitary and epidemiological requirements and hygiene standards;
• radiation, noise and vibration levels;
• room microclimate;
• location of the house.

The check does not necessarily consist of all of these items. The commission determines the list of necessary actions and involved experts based on the content of the appeal. For example, if in a statement a person refers to the destruction of the foundation, there is no need to set the radiation level.

Further, the commission informs the owners of the result of the inspection. Accommodation can be recognized:

• eligible and livable;
• requiring major repairs or redevelopment;
• uninhabitable and subject to renovation;
• uninhabitable and subject to demolition.

The entire process, from filing an application to receiving a verdict, usually takes 2-3 months. If the tenants disagree with the result (whether positive or negative), it can be challenged . First, try pre-trial – through an appeal to local authorities. And if they refuse to reconsider the issue, then through the courts.

Where are the owners of the emergency house relocated?

If the housing is recognized as emergency, all apartment owners in the house will be given a notice of the upcoming demolition or reconstruction. Then they can receive compensation of two types:

• Money . The amount of compensation is equal to the cost of the apartment. It is determined by analyzing the prices for housing of the same area and with the same level of improvement of the area. The compensation may also include the owner’s expenses related to forced relocation and part of the market value of the land plot.
• Apartment . In the same city (or in another, by agreement of the parties) and with the same area. An important detail: both the old and the new premises take into account the size of the entire property, not just the residential part. For example, a 50 m² apartment that did not have a balcony can be replaced with a 45 m² apartment with a 5 m² loggia. The number of rooms in new housing may also change – both in smaller and larger directions.

Owners can count on such compensation. If a person lived in an apartment on social terms, he is provided with new housing for rent .

There are also situations in which there is no time to wait for compensation, for example, if the house was partially destroyed during an emergency or it is threatened with an imminent collapse. In such cases, people must be provided with temporary housing. It is their decision to agree or refuse to move there: this does not affect the receipt of compensation later.