S. Porter / Vedomosti

According to NDV-Real Estate statistics, 65% of all requests are caused by the need to move to the city to earn money or study. 35% of housing is rented by employer companies for their employees.

In 2013, the rental housing market in the city saw an increase in supply and rising prices. Databases were filled with more expensive apartments in new buildings, while the cheapest options - those in Khrushchev-era buildings - were gradually leaving the market as old housing stock was torn down, explains Galina Kiseleva, head of the apartment rental department at Inkom-Real Estate. The elite segment expanded due to the commissioning of new properties, as well as apartments that appeared in the capital, adds Olga Yasko, director of the research department at Knight Frank Russia & CIS.

According to Azbuka Zhil'ya, compared to January of last year, the number of apartments for rent in the mass segment has increased by approximately 5%, mainly due to the commissioning of new buildings in "new Moscow".

According to rough estimates by Miel-Arenda, from 50,000 to 200,000 real estate properties (apartments) are rented out in the capital each year. Spencer Estate counted approximately 40,000 apartments. In the Miel-Arenda database, 71% are economy class apartments, 29% are business and premium class offers. According to calculations by Roman Babichev, head of the rental department at Azbuka Zhil'ya, in Moscow, within its old borders, approximately 15% of apartments from the total housing stock are rented out (about 4.6 million households, iKS-Consulting data was cited by Vedomosti in August 2013). About 60% is economy class housing, about 30% is business class, and he classifies 10% of the supply as elite.

Renting out metropolitan square meters to visitors is a profitable business for some, and a source of income for others. In February, the supply volume will increase even more - this is how owners insure themselves against the financial crisis. The supply of expensive apartments is growing especially actively. By 27% compared to December 2012, according to Anna Sharapova, head of the department for work with owners at IntermarkSavills. Apartments purchased for investment purposes are increasingly being rented out.

Demand does not match supply

Demand does not match supply in terms of both housing location and its characteristics and prices. In particular, according to Miel-Arenda, in December 2013, the largest number of economy-class apartments were offered in the Southern (19.49%) and South-Eastern (14.54%) districts, which are not popular with renters and are considered only if really cheap housing is needed. In the popular Western and South-Western districts, the supply volume was noticeably smaller - 12.46 and 8.63%, respectively.

In December, the Miel database contained the most 2-room apartments (42.23%), 1-room apartments - 37.55%. And the demand was mainly for 1-room apartments (59.68% of applications), 2-room apartments were requested in 31.22% of cases.

Demand and supply also differed in terms of budget. 19.98% of the total supply was offered at a price of $750 to $1,000 per month, while demand for budget options was 27.96%. Overall, according to Miel, tenants showed the greatest interest in housing priced from $1,000 to $3,000 (62.19%) at the end of 2013.

Most of Azbuka Zhil'ya's clients wanted to rent an apartment near the Novye Cheryomushki or Profsoyuznaya metro stations for 30,000 rubles per month, Roman Babichev shares. "It's difficult to find a suitable option based on this budget," he explains.

Five-story panel buildings with small and inexpensive (RUB 25,000-27,000 per month for a one-room apartment, RUB 30,000-34,000 for a two-room apartment) apartments in Moscow are being torn down, recalls Galina Kiseleva. Housing in buildings that will be built on the vacated sites will enter the market at different rates. Relatively cheap one-room apartments without furniture and with finishing "from the developer" can also be rented for RUB 30,000. This is the minimum rental rate in 2013 in remote areas of Moscow where construction was underway, Kiseleva clarifies. In more prestigious areas, they were asking from RUB 35,000. The realtor gives an example: in the South-West Administrative District, on st. Novatorov, in a panel house, a 1-room apartment (42 sq. m) with renovation "from the developer" was offered for 35,000 rubles per month. Nearby, on Obrucheva Street, the same apartment, but with high-quality renovation and modern furniture, cost 10,000 rubles more. "Prices in new houses are higher than in old five-story buildings: as a rule, new buildings have a larger total area of the living space, a larger kitchen," Kiseleva notes. "The cost is also affected by the quality of the renovation and the presence of a concierge in the building."

Apartments in the Central, Western and South-Western Administrative Districts are renting well for up to $3,000. "We just moved a Frenchman into a panel two-room apartment on Slavyansky Boulevard for 55,000 rubles per month," says Vadim Lamin, managing partner at Spencer Estate. There is demand in this area, but the housing must be newly renovated and offered for a reasonable price. Then the exposure period can be about four weeks.

In a new monolithic building near the Proletarskaya metro station, they have been unable to rent out a one-room apartment with expensive renovations and exclusive furniture for 120,000 rubles for six months, while another, more modest-looking apartment in the same building was rented out for 80,000 rubles within a month.

According to Inkom, on average, economy class apartments are currently rented out for 30,600 rubles per month for a 1-room apartment, 41,600 rubles for a 2-room apartment, and 54,700 rubles for a 3-room apartment. Business class housing (according to Miel's calculations) will cost tenants an average of 55,990, 70,990, and 89,250 rubles, respectively. Apartments with four or more rooms are offered for 165,350 rubles per month (their price in 2013 fell by 6.6%, while the rest of the supply has increased in price in the range from 2.5% to almost 8% per year, depending on the class and number of rooms, according to Miel).

Top managers keep the bar high

The structure of supply by districts in the Central District by the end of 2013, according to Elena Rzhavskaya, Director of the Department of Consulting, Analytics and Research at Blackwood, looked like this: the leaders in terms of supply volumes are the Tverskoy District, where more than a quarter of all high-budget supply in central Moscow is concentrated, and Khamovniki (mainly the most prestigious area inside the Garden Ring, Ostozhenka - Prechistenka). Tenants, according to Olga Yasko, prefer the Arbat, Tverskoy, Krasnopresnensky and Zamoskvorechye districts (currently it accounts for about 8% of tenants' requests, the district is becoming increasingly popular).

Among clients who are not constrained by budgets, demand for multi-room apartments is gradually increasing, the realtor notes, while the supply in this segment is increasing slightly and a deficit may soon arise: “Professional investors who purchased real estate for subsequent rental, in previous years preferred to work with small-sized lots,” explains Yasko. “In the medium term, market players will respond to the needs of the tenant, but the time lag for the formation of a balanced supply may be 5-7 years.”

According to IntermarkSavills, the average budget of a potential elite tenant is $7,080 per month, which is 20% more than the same figure for 2012. Anna Sharapova also noted that over the past year, requests for housing cheaper than $4,000 per month have decreased by 10% (38% versus 48% in 2012), while those more expensive than $10,000, on the contrary, have increased by 8%. The expert explains this by the development and reorganization of a number of foreign companies that are looking for housing for top managers, “whose budgets remain high.”

At the same time, some tenants of expensive real estate are increasingly moving to cheaper apartments. As Vadim Lamin explained, some managers of even large companies, as well as embassy employees (the traditional contingent of clients in this market) have seriously cut their rental budgets.

In 2013, the share of foreigners among renters of expensive housing increased to 66% from 60% in 2012, says Anna Sharapova, and the number of requests from families with children increased to 42% (in 2012 - 30%).

According to Blackwood, at the end of 2013, apartments in the center were rented out at an average price of $9,120 per property. The range was from $5,740 in the Tagansky District to $12,830 per month in Khamovniki. Most likely, these rates will remain the same in 2014, "there are no prerequisites for a further increase in average dollar budgets," said Anna Sharapova. Explaining this by the fact that citizens' incomes are not increasing, as well as budgets for renting housing for employees of companies. The most popular apartments will remain those with a rate of up to $6,000.

“If the ruble weakens further, dollar prices will most likely decrease somewhat, but ruble prices – actual ones – will depend directly on demand,” Sharapova is confident.

Brake and catalyst

The legislative initiatives of 2013 did not go unnoticed by the traditionally opaque rental housing market. The law on registration rules has existed for a long time, it applies to all tenants and owners, recalls Maria Zhukova, First Deputy Director of Miel-Rent. But now the Administrative Code has increased the fine for both owners who have committed violations in registering residents, and for tenants. The latter, living in Moscow without registration, will have to pay from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles, and homeowners who have not registered their tenants - from 5,000 to 7,000 rubles. Previously, individuals paid fines at a single rate of 1,500 to 2,500 rubles. Registration will not be required only when moving within one region and moving to close relatives.

According to Lamin, these innovations have changed the preferences of landlords. For example, it is now even more difficult for representatives of the southern regions to find housing in the capital; Muscovites and residents of the Moscow region have become the most desirable clients, in some cases even pushing out "real" foreigners. Sometimes owners initially set a condition: "not to offer tenants without registration," adds Roman Babichev. Since even after the adoption of the law on registration, only 10-15% of owners are ready to provide this service to tenants.

According to Olga Yasko, the problem of legalization is more related to the economy segment of this market. In the elite segment, up to 90% of transactions are concluded and executed in accordance with the law.

While increasing fines for living without registration, the authorities are trying to “increase population mobility” by developing the rental housing market. As Vedomosti has already reported, the Ministry of Economic Development has proposed reducing taxes on rentiers’ income, taking into account depreciation and investment costs incurred by owners of rented real estate. According to the ministry’s estimates, the tax rate should be 50-60% of the total personal income tax rate (13%). Currently, landlords – but few of them are conscientious – pay a tax of 13%. As Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin previously stated, about 130,000 apartments have been identified in the capital that are rented out illegally, and official rental agreements have been concluded for just over 10,000.

For some owners who rent out housing illegally, the tax reduction will be a sufficient reason to come out of the shadows, Maria Zhukova hopes. Although the problem is not limited to the price of the issue, she stipulates: "Many are stopped by the reluctance to deal with the laborious and lengthy process of registering for tax purposes and filing a declaration, documents that are difficult to understand, etc." Therefore, the reduction of the tax burden will have the desired effect only in conjunction with other legislative acts regulating and simplifying the taxation mechanism, Maria Zhukova and Roman Babichev believe. “If, along with the reduction of personal income tax, we simplify the tax system, free people from the need to open an individual entrepreneurship (to reduce the tax to 6%) or repeatedly visit tax offices, allow them to pay through payment machines or at the post office, or, for example, together with rent, exempt some categories of citizens, such as pensioners, beneficiaries, from paying the tax, this will significantly affect the desire of landlords to pay tribute to the state,” Babichev reasons.

Cheat sheet for rentiers

Andrey Ivanov, Executive Director of Quadro Real Estate:

- A rentier who receives income from renting out real estate, economically needs to be aware of changes in tax legislation. By comparing their specific situation with the current tax law, the owner of an apartment or flat has the opportunity to legally optimize the tax burden. In this case, we are not talking about grey schemes, the expected savings from which, due to the systematic strengthening of state control in the area of tax administration, are becoming very questionable. At present, it makes sense for private owners of capital square meters to act as individual entrepreneurs (IE) and choose between the simplified tax system (STS) and the patent tax system (PTS). When assessing the overall tax burden, one should take into account not only the tax amount, but also the total amount of insurance premiums that each individual entrepreneur is obliged to pay. The tax amount when using the STS in 2014 remained unchanged - 6% of the actual income received. As for the PTS, a number of serious changes occurred in 2014. The tax under the patent taxation system (the same 6%) is calculated based on the “annual income potentially received by an individual entrepreneur”. De facto, the size of the actual income does not matter - the tax can be calculated immediately. In 2013, the tax under the patent taxation system was calculated based on the potential annual income of 1 million rubles and amounted to 60,000 rubles per year for one separate property. In 2014, amendments were made to the Moscow law “On the patent taxation system”. Firstly, non-residential premises were allocated as a separate category when determining potential income. Secondly, the potential income from renting out non-residential premises was made dependent on their area. The amount of tax for owners of non-residential premises with an area of up to 100 sq. m has not changed - 60,000 rubles per year. The same amount must be paid by owners of housing regardless of its area. But owners of non-residential premises with an area from 100 to 300 sq. m will have to pay 180,000 rubles, etc. (see table). The tax for owners of non-residential premises with an area of more than 600 sq. m has increased exactly 10 times - up to 600,000 rubles per year. Owners of capital apartments should remember that when using the PSN, their potential income will be determined depending on their area. In addition, in all the above calculations, the result should be multiplied by 1.067 - this is the value of the deflator coefficient for 2014. For example, if the landlord uses the PSN, the amount of his potential income should be adjusted: the amount of potential annual income will be 1,067,000 rubles, and the tax amount - 64,020 rubles. Such an adjustment of the calculations gives the final result for the tax for owners of non-residential premises with an area of more than 600 sq. m in the amount of 640,200 rubles. This is the maximum tax amount under the patent tax system for leasing real estate in 2014. A significant part of the actual tax burden may be insurance premiums. Let us recall that in 2013, the amount of insurance premiums for individual entrepreneurs was 35,664.66 rubles (it consisted of contributions to the Pension Fund (PFR) - 32,479.20 rubles and the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund (CMIF) - 3,185.46 rubles). In 2014, the components remained the same, but their amounts changed. Self-employed individual entrepreneurs (without employees) pay 3,399.05 rubles to the CMIF budget. This is a fixed amount. The main changes occurred in the methodology for calculating contributions to the PFR. Since 2014, their amount depends on the amount of the individual entrepreneur's annual income. If the annual income does not exceed 300,000 rubles, then the contribution to the PFR budget will be 17,328.48 rubles. If the annual income exceeds 300,000 rubles, then in addition to the specified amount (17,328.48 rubles), the individual entrepreneur pays 1% of the income amount that exceeds the specified amount. The amount of insurance contributions to the PFR cannot be more than 138,627.84 rubles. It is important to note that when using the simplified system, an individual entrepreneur has the right to reduce the tax by the amount of insurance contributions in full. De facto, the final tax burden for the simplified tax system can be considered as 6% of the actual income received (this statement is true for an annual income exceeding 345,458.83 rubles). Based on the realities of tax legislation, we can give a practical recommendation for 2014: when deciding on the choice of taxation system, it makes sense for a rentier to first consider the simplified tax system (income, 6%). However, the more income a specific property generates, the more likely it is that the PSN will be more profitable. Table 2 shows the amounts of monthly and annual income received from a separate property, at which the final tax burden under the PSN becomes equal to the burden under the simplified tax system. Thus, if an object generates an amount greater than that indicated in Table 2 for this type of property, it is economically feasible to use the PSN.

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