Russian President Vladimir Putin set a strategic objective to dramatically improve the affordability of housing in Russia.
"I believe we have reached such a level, we have the resources to set a strategic national objective, namely, to dramatically improve the affordability of housing for our citizens, above all, for young families with children," Putin said at a meeting of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development and Priority Projects.
He noted that "today 35% of Russian families, according to expert estimates, have a real opportunity to improve their living conditions with the help of bank loans." "By 2025, there should be more than one half of them," the president said. He recalled that, according to the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending, there were less than 5% of such families in the early 2000s.
"Specialists’ calculations show that it is necessary to commission 110-120 mln square meters of housing annually to achieve that," TASS cited the President as saying.
Putin stressed that people should have an opportunity "to move to modern houses that meet all comfort and safety standards, where there are all necessary infrastructure, social and sports facilities, parks and public spaces." "This is a systemic task, its solution should have a huge impact on the demographic situation and people’s living standards, the country’s economy," he said.
