Innovator Oleg Gerasimov details the shifting landscape of rural real estate, prioritizing comprehensive development over cheap plots.
A crucial shift in the individual housing construction market in 2025 is the expansion of Comprehensive Development principles to include suburban projects. Previously, these requirements mainly applied to urban construction, but now they increasingly affect regional territories.
«The essence of these changes is simple. Developers of large land plots designated for cottage communities can no longer limit themselves solely to demarcation and selling lots,» states Oleg Gerasimov, Board Member of NOCO and innovator.
Regional authorities are beginning to consider the future social burden: the number of residents, school-age and preschool children, and the need for medical infrastructure. This shift is linked to the ongoing population growth in the Moscow Region due to migration. A significant portion of these new residents work in the capital, placing the infrastructure load squarely on the surrounding region.
The End of «Cheap» Construction
Consequently, developers are now required to enter into agreements stipulating compensation for social infrastructure—either through direct budgetary payments or by financing schools, kindergartens, and medical facilities. For smaller communities, this necessitates a serious overhaul of project economics, effectively ending the model of «cheap» suburban construction lacking infrastructure.
Gerasimov continues: «These changes are neither isolated nor temporary. This is a new market reality that all developers must adapt to. It is clear that these additional costs will be factored into the final price of the plots, meaning land prices in organized cottage settlements are expected to continue rising in the near future.»
In essence, these ongoing regulatory changes act as a natural filter. The chaotic format of partitioning land into small ‘six-sotka’ plots (approximately 600 square meters) without roads or other basic amenities is gradually disappearing from the market.
«The buyer is becoming more rational and chooses a comprehensive product, even if it costs more. Developers who focus on building not just plots, but a genuine living environment, are the ones who stand to gain,» the specialist concludes.
Author: Elena Sokolova
