How to legally formalize the apartment redevelopment in 2024

What is meant by apartment redevelopment?

First, let us find out what redevelopment is. These are changes inside a real estate property after it has been commissioned. They include both minor construction work and quite serious ones, such as expanding the kitchen area with a loggia or an adjacent room, combining bathrooms, and demolishing a storage room. Very often, homeowners are eager to combine the living room with the kitchen.

Each property has a personal data sheet. If alterations are planned in the apartment in the future that are not specified in the technical data sheet, they are considered redevelopment. A very important point! You cannot interfere with the engineering systems and supporting structures, or expand the dimensions of already built dwelling. If the supporting wall is broken, it is no longer a redevelopment, but a reconstruction.

Redevelopment means adding balconies, arranging a vestibule, destroying or moving an internal partition, changing the configuration of doorways. To avoid making excess movements and spending extra time and money, it is easier to purchase an apartment in one of the new buildings, where everything is thought out to the smallest detail. The Riel City complex has recently appeared in Zaliznychnyi District of Lviv, where each apartment meets the requirements of a modern person to the maximum extent possible.

How to start legalizing an apartment redevelopment

If you decide to redevelop your housing, you should do everything correctly, as required by the applicable laws, so that you do not have to pay fines and waste money. There have already been situations where the owner was unable to legalize the alterations made and was forced to return the premises to their original state.

The procedure for apartment redevelopment is as follows:

1. A project for the future redevelopment is created and developed. At this stage, it is advisable to contact a professional architect or engineer who performs the work efficiently. Only then you can rely on compliance with the rules and regulations.
2. Submit a declaration to the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning. The owner submits a project to the State Inspectorate for Architecture and Urban Planning to obtain a permit before starting construction work.
3. Construction is carried out according to the project – the redevelopment is directly implemented.
4. When the construction work is completed, a new technical data sheet for the dwelling should be ordered and must be done by certified engineers from the Property Inventory and Registration Authority.
5. An application is submitted to the Administrative Service Center stating that the repair and construction work has been completed.
6. The licensing authority issues a conclusion that the work was carried out in accordance with the project.
7. To make changes to the State Register of Proprietary Rights to Immovable Property, you will have to contact a notary. The state registrar can also assist in this matter. They will need to provide a technical data sheet and a conclusion on the compliance of the project, which is obtained from the licensing authority.

Remember, this is very important! In no case, you should dismantle exterior walls, columns, and supporting walls. Also, do not change the configuration of the risers of the ventilation shaft, sanitation, water supply, and heating. It is not allowed to combine the kitchen and the only living room in an apartment with gas equipment. Otherwise, it will not be possible to legalize the work performed, and problems may arise when selling the property.

Documents required for apartment redevelopment

To obtain a redevelopment permit, you will need certain documents, including a declaration of commencement of construction work, an application for permission to carry out work, and a redevelopment project (two copies). In order to do everything legally and speed up the redevelopment procedure, you should prepare this list of documents in advance:

1. Application for redevelopment.
2. Technical data sheet for the dwelling (issued by the Property Inventory and Registration Authority).
3. Redevelopment project.
4. Declaration of commencement of redevelopment works.
5. Construction permit (issued after the submitted documents are checked and the redevelopment project is approved).
6. Certificate of completion of work.
7. New technical data sheet from the Property Inventory and Registration Authority.
8. Application to the Administrative Service Center.

The amount that the owner must spend to legalize the redevelopment depends on various factors: the type of construction work performed, the area of the dwelling. If it is a new building, it all depends on the position of the developer.  

There are certain companies that are happy to meet the needs of a buyer who wants to make their own individual layout. But this happens when the building has not yet been commissioned. In this case, the buyer is only responsible for the cost of construction materials. And you do not have to pay extra for the legalization, because the first technical data sheet of the building has not yet been made and you can freely make all the necessary changes.

There is no specific amount of money for legalizing a redevelopment in a building that has already been constructed and commissioned. Each situation is unique and is considered separately. Approximately, the amount is calculated from $100 to $2000, but this is very tentative. The more complex the construction work, the more money it costs. The final amount is also affected by the method of legalizing the redevelopment of the apartment.

How to legalize the apartment redevelopment under a simplified procedure

If the changes in the layout have already been made and they have not affected the structural integrity of the building, since they are quite minor, you can legalize the apartment redevelopment under a simplified procedure. This refers to internal works that do not in any way affect the supporting walls or changes to the facade. In such cases, a new technical passport is issued by the BTI, which reflects the actual layout of the living space. Then the owner goes to the registrar, who makes changes to the State Register and issues an extract, which will confirm the legality of the redevelopment work.

It is worth remembering that the simplified scheme is not suitable in case of significant alterations. To make sure that the redevelopment is included in the list of simple construction works, you should contact a qualified lawyer. Sometimes it happens that all the alterations have been made in accordance with the approved project and with a permit, but the authorities refuse to put it into operation. Then you should find out what exactly the problem is. As a last resort, you should go to court.

If you want to use the simplified scheme, you will need the following documents:

• old technical data sheet (if available);
• identification code with the passport of the person who owns the property; if there are co-owners, attach their original documents;
• document confirming the right to ownership must be attached.

The documents confirming the legality of the redevelopment will need to include an extract from the State Register, a technical data sheet, and the right to own real estate. Certain situations require the addition of some other documents, including permission from local authorities.

What are the penalties for unauthorized apartment redevelopment?

In Ukraine, unauthorized redevelopment of housing is considered illegal, and if you do not agree on this point in advance with the relevant authorities, the apartment owner may be fined because he or she has violated urban planning legislation. Such violations include construction work performed without proper permission or performed with deviations from the officially approved project. The exact amount of the fine depends on the degree of the violation.

If the homeowner does not have a permit for redevelopment, neighbours can sue him or her. Most of the time, the owner is forced to pay a fine and return everything to its original state. Do not forget about the physical danger – in this case, the headache of paperwork fades into the background. After all, a structure created without the participation of qualified specialists is not thought out to the smallest detail. It can pose a threat to life and collapse due to a violation of the building's integrity.

In addition, illegal redevelopment can create problems with the sale of housing in the future. After all, the next owner will incur additional costs for its legalization. In order not to have a headache with the redevelopment, it is worth buying housing in new buildings. A lot of modern apartments have recently been built in Lviv by the Real Estate Corporation RIEL. For example, in Zaliznychnyi District, there is an elite Shengen Complex with six buildings. The architects worked out every detail, so the new owners will not have to change or rebuild anything.

There are certain changes that will not be legalized at all:

• demolition of the supporting walls;
• adding a balcony to the facade of the building.

In these cases, the owner will be obliged to pay a fine. There are also difficulties with the alienation of real estate when the documents are not properly executed. If the redevelopment of the property was carried out illegally, the owner is sometimes even obliged to return everything to its original state. In addition, he or she pays considerable fines for non-compliance with the legal procedure.

What are the conditions for registering an unauthorized apartment redevelopment?

According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 406 of 7.06.2017, unauthorized apartment redevelopment can be registered after it has already taken place. Of course, you need to be patient, as the approval process will take a lot of time.

So, in order to register a redevelopment, if the supporting walls and enclosing structures have not been damaged, you will need to take the following steps:

• Visit an engineer who develops a new technical data sheet for the dwelling in accordance with the applicable laws.
• Apply to the State Register of Property Rights to make changes to it and obtain an extract from the register. This will be a confirmation that the alterations are legal, even if the area of the dwelling is increased or decreased.

Remember: If you legalize the redevelopment of your housing from the very beginning, this will help you to avoid many problems in the future, including those that arise when you sell your apartment or re-register it. For example, the modern layout of apartments in the America residential complex, located in Frankivsk District of Lviv, will eliminate the need to redo or change anything, because the developer is Real Estate Corporation RIEL, and it has calculated and planned everything in advance.