The Central Bank called on the IZHS creditors to show condescension to borrowers
The Bank of Russia recommends that banks meet citizens who have taken a loan for individual housing, if the developer has not fulfilled their obligations to them. The regulator and defenders of the rights of borrowers pay attention to a large number of complaints of citizens faced with such a problem. Experts note that small construction companies operating in the field of individual housing construction (IZHS), the introduction of the mechanism of escrow accounts only complicated activities.
On Tuesday, April 22, the Bank of Russia Published The information letter, in which he recommended that banks provide support to the borrower in case of failure to fulfill the contractor for the construction of individual housing construction facilities using various forms of debt restructuring. The regulator offers credit organizations to apply measures such as a prevention of deterioration in the position of the borrower due to the lack of a pledge in the form of an IZHS facility, the transfer of the deadline for the execution of obligations stipulated by the contract, as well as partial or complete forgiveness of the debt in special situations.
The Bank of Russia said that these measures have become relevant due to the fact that there are cases of non -fulfillment by contractors of obligations assumed to citizens to build IZHS facilities. According to Kommersant in the project of the Popular Front “for the rights of borrowers”, at the end of the last and beginning of this year, many complaints were recorded from citizens about problems with IZHS from all regions of Russia, and the appeals were both individual and collective. According to the Central Bank, for 2024, the volume of loans of the IZHS amounted to 1.07 trillion rubles, in the first two months of 2025 – 32.5 billion rubles.
From March 1, 2025, the law entered into force, which extended the mechanism for using the escrow accounts to the IZHS segment – when using it, the citizen’s funds are accumulated in the bank on a special account and issued to the developer after the survey of the facility. The contractor in this case takes a loan at the bank on security funds on the account at a preferential rate, but if he does not fulfill his obligations, then all the money is returned to the citizen.
As Yevgeny Kvasenkov, director of the housing development of the housing sphere, explained to Kommersant, the use of IZHS mechanism with escrow is voluntary, which means that it is also possible to pay directly to the contractor.
At the same time, as experts note, the introduction of the mechanism of escrow accounts into the IZHS segment provoked a stressful reaction from contractors. So, according to the expert of the mortgage market, Sergei Gordeyko, the contractors could not cope with the new conditions, including the need to obtain accreditation and increased commissions from banks due to low reimbursement of banks on preferential mortgage programs. “There was an increase in the cost of construction, and the number of contractors decreased, this is due to the fact that the introduction of construction is actually carried out with the introduction of construction at the expense of the contractor,” he explained.
In addition, according to experts, the general economic situation in the country plays a role in the departure of the developers from the market.
Head of Analytics of the Institute of Growth Economics named after P. A. Stolypin Sergey Vasilkovsky notes that a high key rate creates increased risks of non -fulfillment by contractors of its obligations, since contracting organizations are increasingly cannot pay or get materials, ordered goods and services.
Experts expect bankruptcy for the developers of the IZHS. “According to the EFRSB, the number of cases in bankruptcy increased by about 30% compared to 2023 due to the high cost of building materials and loans, tightening regulation, and control of shared construction also played a role,” said Oleg Abelev, head of the analytical department of the RIMU-TRAST investment company.
At the same time, analysts note that the demand for restructuring in the segment of loans on IZHS by citizens is growing. According to Oleg Ablev, according to BKI, in the first quarter of 2025, the amount of restructuring increased by about 20% compared to last year. “Basically, we are talking about extending the deadline and reducing payments,” he says. And the managing partner of the VETA expert group Ilya Zharsky is sure that banks will continue to be careful in their approaches to lending, and in terms of restructuring, possibly even more attentive to problematic borrowers with IZHS.
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