Housing for single mothers: how to get it in 2017-2018

Domestic legislation contains many rules aimed at protecting the rights of women raising a minor child alone. Such benefits also include the opportunity to improve living conditions at the expense of the state or municipal housing stock.

In the material presented, you can find out how a single mother can get an apartment from the state and in what order single mothers with a child receive housing.

Can a single mother get an apartment?

The grounds for allocating living space are regulated in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and fully apply to the receipt of an apartment by a single mother with many children.

First of all, it is necessary to clarify the nuances of confirming the status of a single mother, since, in itself, the fact of raising children in the absence of their own father does not have the legal right to obtain this status.

There are only three legal grounds that allow a woman to officially obtain the status of a single mother:

• the birth of a child outside of an official marriage relationship, if the paternity of a particular person was not declared during registration at the civil registry office;
• if a woman who does not enter into a family relationship has decided to adopt a minor citizen;
• if the fact of birth took place within 300 days from the date of termination of the marriage relationship, but paternity was challenged in court by the former marriage partner.

Based on these circumstances, the following women are not recognized as single mothers:

• whose partner has died;
• mother of a minor whose father was deprived of parental rights in court;
• who gave birth to a child born out of wedlock, for whom paternity was registered, etc.

To obtain the status of a single mother, it is necessary to contact the social security authorities, after which the right to receive various benefits and preferences provided for by this legal status arises.

Obtaining a free apartment from the state or municipal fund for a woman with the status of a single mother will be possible subject to the following rules of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation:

• neediness - lack of an apartment for a single mother, non-compliance with the level of amenities or non-compliance with the minimum standard for housing provision (accounting standard);
• unsuitability of housing for habitation;
• having the status of a low-income family, i.e. lack of sufficient funds for the existence of mother and child.

All of the above circumstances must be properly confirmed to the local government when a single mother is put on a waiting list to receive an apartment.

If it is quite easy to confirm the status of a single mother, then it is necessary to confirm the low income of a single mother by comparing real income with the level of the subsistence level in the region of residence.

As a rule, a certificate to confirm the status of a low-income family is also issued by social security authorities at the place of residence.

Confirmation of need will be carried out on the basis of documents for existing real estate, as well as through requests to the BTI authorities or the Rosreestr service.

Legislation of the Russian Federation

To find out how a single mother can get an apartment from the state, it is necessary to take into account the provisions of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and the Family Code of the Russian Federation.

Also, the authorized bodies will apply the Rules for registering as those in need of improved housing conditions, adopted at the regional or local level.

It must be taken into account that the social status of a single mother does not give the right to priority or priority allocation of housing.

The law allows for queuing on a general basis, including for women of this status.

How to get an apartment for a single mother

In order for a woman with a child to exercise her right to housing allocation, she needs to get on the waiting list for an apartment.

The procedure for single mothers to obtain an apartment begins with an application to the municipal authority, and the application must be officially registered.

To obtain the right to a subsidized apartment, the person who is raising the child must receive confirmation of placement on the municipal queue.

In order for a single mother to be placed on the city’s waiting list for an apartment, it is necessary to confirm not only her poverty, but also her need for improved living conditions.

For this purpose, the following facts and circumstances can be used and established:

• living in a residential building that does not meet regulatory standards for improvement (lack of heating, running water, etc.);
• lack of real estate title;
• discrepancy between the footage of living space and the regional standard (as a rule, it ranges from 15 sq. m. per family member).

Note! If a single mother lives in her own old apartment, she will not even be able to get on the waiting list for housing, since the availability of real estate is easily confirmed by a request to the Rosreestr institution.

Step-by-step instruction

To exercise the legal right to allocate real estate from the state fund, you must follow the following algorithm of actions in the form of step-by-step instructions:

• officially confirm the status of a single mother through the regional social protection authority;
• receive a certificate of need and low income in a similar manner;
• prepare documents confirming the absence of housing ownership or rental;
• contact the municipal authority with a package of documents for placement in the city queue;
• receive a ticket notifying you of being placed in a queue;
• wait your turn and receive an administrative document from the administration about the allocation of housing on social rent terms.

If the waiting period does not exceed 30 days, then the process of actually obtaining housing may be delayed and depends on the capabilities of the municipality.

Required package of documents

To confirm the grounds for registration and inclusion in the queue for housing, you need to submit the following package of documentation:

• application form filled out by the child’s mother;
• a document confirming the status of a single woman;
• general passport and birth certificate;
• extracts from the BTI and the Rosreestr service about the lack of housing in the property;
• an official valid certificate from the social security authority about the family's low income;
• in the absence of the above certificate, statements of the woman’s income and expenses, utility payment forms, statements of property, etc. are submitted to the local administration;
• act on the unsuitability of housing for permanent residence;
• a certificate from the registration authorities confirming the presence of registration in the given area for more than 10 years.

In this case, placement on the waiting list will be denied, since deliberate deterioration of living conditions does not give such a right.

Subtleties of the process

To confirm your rights to benefits and preferences granted to a single mother, you need to take into account the following nuances:

• all forms and certificates submitted to local authorities for queuing must be filled out in accordance with regulated forms;
• The status of a single mother will not be lost if a woman has registered a marriage relationship, but her partner has not adopted the child;
• the right to priority or priority provision of housing may arise on additional grounds, in which case the woman will be removed from the queue as a single mother;
• While waiting in line, you will need to annually confirm the status of a low-income family, need for housing, as well as the status of a single mother (for this, new forms are re-submitted).

In some regions, an apartment subsidy may be provided to women with a specified social status in order to obtain some kind of real estate. Details of such programs should be obtained from local authorities.

Advice from those who received an apartment

Here are some practical tips that will help you avoid difficulties when collecting documents and queuing for housing:

• an application to the municipality is possible immediately after the birth of a minor citizen, as soon as a certificate is issued for him;
• currently, to confirm preferential statuses, you can contact the Multifunctional Center, which has the right to request any information through interdepartmental exchange;
• It is advisable to carry out all legally significant actions accompanied by an experienced lawyer in order to eliminate the risk of refusal to be placed in the queue;
• After receiving a coupon for placement in the municipal queue, it is recommended to constantly check the movement of the specified queue, as well as your own queue number (this will allow you to avoid abuse by officials and get the long-awaited apartment on time).

In any case, you need to understand that the process of allocating housing lasts for years.

If during this time citizens acquire residential premises through purchase and sale, legal grounds may arise for their deregistration with the municipality and official exclusion from the queue of those in need.