Houses on the water: floating housing in Russia is becoming popular :: Countryside real estate :: RBC Real Estate
Despite the incomprehensible legal status, a new format of residential real estate is becoming popular in Russia - houseboats.
Photo: Depositphotos/S_Razvodovskij
Floating houses have always been very popular in Europe. In Russia, this is a relatively new phenomenon, but the demand for such houses outstrips supply by several times.
In Europe, there are much more houses on the water than in Russia: in countries such as Germany or the Netherlands, river plots are much cheaper than land, so many people prefer to settle on the water. A similar format of residential real estate is also popular in France, where for permanent residence on the water it is necessary to buy a special permit from the city hall, which gives the right to equip and lay communications to boat houses.
(Photo: Robert Harding/Globallookpress)
(Photo: Lisa S. Engelbrecht / Globallookpress)
“In our country, the supply market for housing on water is rather narrow,” says Mikhail Bykov, commercial director of the Dom na Voda company. “Few Russians imagine what a “floating house” is due to the lack of a competent advertising policy. do not know where and how this type of housing is presented.
However, there is a demand for "water" housing in Russia, says Oksana Diveeva, director of the urban real estate sales department at Blackwood. According to her, demand exceeds supply several times.
What is floating housing
The cheapest option is house on pontoons. The pontoons are combined with each other into a single floating platform. This platform also holds the building located on the site on the water. Despite the rather impressive weight, the design has good stability and has the properties of a vessel that keeps well afloat. In addition, the pontoon is not subject to corrosion and its service life is several hundred years. According to experts, this type of housing has a huge potential: pontoons provide for the possibility of building a house according to an individual project.
barges, equipped for housing, are much less common. An old barge can be converted into housing. But it's easier to order a barge at the shipyard. Such houses are distributed mainly in Europe and the USA. In Russia, the prospects for the use of barges remain vague.
landing stage- quite an expensive type of real estate. This technology provides for the construction on concrete structures. The main advantage of such houses on the water is that they provide freedom for the implementation of any architectural ideas. There are practically no limits for the imagination of designers and architects. On a solid concrete landing stage, it is possible to build quite large houses several floors high.
Landing stages can either work autonomously, having their own generator, their own water supply, ventilation and sewerage system. However, they can also be connected to local networks, to the central communications of the city, if necessary, they can swim autonomously (for example, when moving to another parking place). However, it is quite difficult to repair such a floating object. “The landing stage needs to be periodically raised to the slipway and the skin should be inspected for leaks. This is quite expensive if it is not possible to carry out these works using slipways, but diving to identify and eliminate leaks does not give a complete picture of the quality of the repair work being performed,” says Mikhail Bykov.
“Any of these types of houseboats can be equipped with the necessary infrastructure to live in it all year round. For example, you can put a marine-type toilet with a manual release or put a 100-liter tank. to the place of pumping," advises the commercial director of the Mikizha company (creates houses on the water) Dmitry Sobinyakov.
How much do houses on the water cost
"The safety of a landing stage depends on the materials and technologies used in its construction, engineering infrastructure systems, but most importantly, on a properly built foundation. You need to buy landing stages after a technical audit," warns Oksana Diveeva.
The cost of such a project depends on the size, quality of construction and engineering equipment. "The estimated cost of building a houseboat starts from 2 million rubles, and in some cases the price goes up to 3 million dollars," says an expert from the Blackwood company.
It is impossible to register in a "floating house", but it can be registered with the State Inspectorate for Small Vessels as a floating craft. This requires lights and life-saving equipment on board. Registration problems may arise if the size of the house exceeds 20 m in length. With such a size, it is already necessary to apply to the River Register.
Vera Kozubova